Stolen Time
by Andrew Roberts
Summary: James Walker: a loving husband, Muay Thai kickboxer, and raging bull in Mass Effect's china shop? James gets sent through time and space to a reality that is hard for him to accept. OC/?, eventual FemShep/Liara, other pairings, Chakwas Heavy.
1. A Sinking Feeling

**A Sinking Feeling**

_"Please God, somehow let me live through this..."_ James thought as his car entered free-fall.

The world slowed down for him, and agonizingly his mind flashed through everything in his life that he loved. Everything that he had to live for. His wife that he loved, the home and life they built together, the career that he worked so hard for, the family and friends that he may never see again, and pleasant memories long since forgotten or taken for granted.

His windshield wipers were still futily doing their job, and with each slow swipe against the sheets of rain he caught a glimpse of the coming impact. He could barely see the turbulent water below, the moonlight only slightly exposing it in spite of the driving rain that he was now falling with. Each slow movement of the wiper blades revealed an end coming closer and closer.

_"Sarah, I'm sorry..."_ His mind whispered in defeat as the car violently impacted the water.

Everything went black.

* * *

Flashes of awareness surged back to his mind...

He tried opening his eyes but saw only darkness.

He could feel water flowing into the interior of the car.

He heard the muffled sound of churning water.

In between the moments where his senses returned to him, he saw the the last events of the night replay themselves...

* * *

"I'll be back before you know it, don't worry." James said nonchalantly as he grabbed his car keys.

His wife looked at him with concern. "Missing one class isn't going to hurt anything! Please stay, the weather is supposed to be horrible tonight..."

"Sarah, if I can let a little rain interrupt my training I might start to get lazy. Then before I know it I'll be one of those 'once a month' guys that can't survive in the competitions, much less in the ring. Muay Thai isn't very forgiving to couch potatoes." James chucked.

She said nothing, but gave him a pitiful look that tugged painfully at his heart. "Hey," He moved in and embraced her. "...Stop worrying, besides when I get back we'll snuggle up on the couch and watch that movie you wanted to see."

Her eyes lit up. "You mean?"

James smiled and grumbled halfheartedly. "Yes, that sappy romance movie that I swore I'd never watch."

"Oh come on, you know you want to see it!" Sara playfully slapped him on the shoulder.

He just smiled and stared into her eyes, a slightly more serious look on his face. "I love you."

A peaceful look washed over her face. "James, you say that at least once a day... ...but I'll never get tired of hearing it."

They both leaned in for a kiss as she whispered "I love you too." right before their lips touched.

* * *

That moment. Standing there in that warm embrace.

The thought immediately brought him to full awareness, a rush of adrenaline surging through his body.

_"I can't die..."_ He thought desperately as he took in his surroundings.

The car still hadn't filled with water yet, and seemed to have been taken by the current of the water. The front windshield was submerged, and in a surreal way he could see out into the darkness of the water with his one surviving headlight. The other one, he quickly surmised, must have been taken out by the oncoming truck that had knocked him off the bridge. Considering the truck was recklessly speeding down the wrong way of a 2 mile bridge in the pouring rain, James had no doubt that the driver had been a drunken moron.

The car suddenly lurched to the side, seemingly being struck by something while traveling with the current of the large river.

After weighing his options, with dread he realized that he was stuck there. He had driven about halfway across the bridge, and there was no way he was going to be able to swim a mile of rapids in a torrential downpour. So instead of kicking out the window and making a break for it, he waited and desperately hoped that somehow the car would stay afloat and take him to safety eventually. A fools hope he knew, but it was all he had.

* * *

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before the car had become completely submerged in the river, what was just a couple of minutes agonizingly seemed like hours. Suddenly the car lost power and went black. Cursing at himself for how he'd not just tried sooner to make a swim for it, he unbuckled his seat belt and positioned himself to kick the driver side window. His vision blurred as he desperately tried to keep his head above water while at the same time trying to maintain his position.

With all his strength he tried to kick out the window, but it was too late. He was floating in the icy cold water now, and any attempt to kick just futily pushed him away from the window.

He felt the car sinking rapidly deep into the river as he tried desperately to get the door open. The interior was still partially pressurized due in part to the car's rapid descent into the water, causing any attempts to push the door open to fail miserably.

Calm started to wash over him as the water raised to the roof of the car. He realized this was the end. One final thought entered his mind. "I love you Sarah."

With no more air and no more strength to fight, he prepared to take his last breath and let the water fill his lungs...

Suddenly, a burst of light came spilling from in front of him. The car lurched forward towards it and soon the light filled it, illuminating the interior in a bright blue-green glow.

He felt images start filling his mind.

Strange beings were being slaughtered by the trillions. Death. Destruction. The end of life.

A cruel joke he mused, that his last thoughts would be some hallucination of some kind of armageddon. He tried to resist the images and instead focus on thoughts of his wife, but they soon overpowered him and completely took over his mind. He felt the car abruptly stop moving as the light became blindingly bright.

An explosion threw him to the back of the car and knocked what little air he had left out of his chest.

Instantly, blackness took him again.

* * *

James lurched up as he coughed water out of his lungs and immediately as he expelled it he desperately started gasping for air. His body hurt all over and he felt as though he had fallen from the roof of a tall building.

"Sarah..." He weakly managed to get out before he collapsed back to the ground.

"It's ok, just breathe!" Said a female voice above him.

Another voice, this one male, suddenly came from his left in a frantic tone. "What the hell just happened, who is that?"

James became groggily aware that he wasn't alone, he certainly wasn't underwater, and that he was lying on a hard surface with a gloved hand supporting the back of his head.

"I don't know! He just crashed through the window of that... is that a CAR?" The female voice yelled in confusion.

"Alenko to Normandy, we need a pickup NOW! We have two casualties, notify Dr. Chakwas!" The voice paused before continuing, his voice taking on a low worried tone. "One of them is the commander..."

Consciousness slipped away from him again, leaving him only with confused thoughts of some kind of rescue operation in progress, the horrible visions he'd witnessed moments ago, and the desperate thought that he had to keep himself alive to see his wife again.


	2. Rude Awakening

**Rude Awakening**

"Doctor! Doctor Chakwas! I think he's waking up!" A concerned female voice yelled.

James heard footsteps approaching as he started to regain consciousness.

"How are you feeling?" A different, more mature female voice asked.

He opened his eyes to see two women standing beside him. He seemed to be lying on a medical bed, but his surroundings didn't seem like any hospital he was familiar with.

"Tired." He answered with a hoarse voice.

"I'm not surprised, you were out for quite a while." The older woman replied warmly.

James winced as he started to get up. "Where am I? Does my wife know-"

"Now hold on, lay back down, you aren't fully healed yet." The woman gently pushed him back to the bed. Reluctantly he complied.

As he lay back down, he noticed the young woman had a holstered pistol and was observing him nervously while keeping her hand near it.

"I'm Doctor Chakwas and this is-"

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams." The younger woman interrupted.

The doctor shot her a bemused side glance before continuing. "And you are?"

"James Walker." He said as he eyed Ashley's sidearm, not recognizing the model.

"Wait, is she a cop? Did you catch that drunk asshole that did this?" Ashley took a slight step back and looked towards the doctor for a response.

The doctor stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "What is the last thing you remember?"

James thought for a second. "I was driving back from training and got rammed off the bridge into the river."

"Which bridge on Eden Prime was that?" The doctor asked in bewilderment.

"Eden what? I never heard of that town... Exactly how far did the current take me? Where am I?" He asked again, this time with less patience in his voice.

"The SSV Normandy." The doctor replied with a somewhat worried tone.

Then she moved something to his arm that he couldn't see, and he felt what seemed like medication start running through his veins. "What was that?"

"Just some mild sedatives. To calm your nerves." She said warmly, though it was obvious she wasn't telling him something.

"How he hell did I end up on a boat?" James said as he started trying to get up again, only to slump back down from the sedatives. _"Mild my ass."_ He thought.

Chakwas took a deep breath and shot a worried look at the other woman. Then she put her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes with as friendly a look as she could manage. "What year is it?"

"2010, why? Is this a memory test or something?" James stated to the concerned surprise of the two women.

Dr. Chakwas cleared her throat before continuing. "No, it isn't a test... I'm afraid it is 2183. You are on board a starship, not a 'boat.'"

She patted his shoulder lightly and gave him a look of sympathy.

James swatted the doctor's hand away, causing Ashley to jump back and put her hand on her gun.

"What the hell are you talking about? Do you think this is funny? Where's my wife? Give me a phone!" James yelled as he stumbled out of the bed.

"Can't say I didn't see that coming..." Ashley quipped at the doctor while still keeping her hand over her sidearm.

"I assure you I am not joking, and you need to lay back down. You still need to recover from your injuries and you are under heavy sedation!" Chakwas pleaded with him.

He ignored her and stumbled towards a deactivated terminal. Recognizing it was some type of interface but unable to find a power button, he angrily pounded on the device until a holographic interface blinked on. The sight caused him to stumble backwards. "What the hell is that?"

The doctor started walking towards him when he suddenly regained his balance and ran towards the door. It automatically opened when he approached it, allowing him to continue his desperate pace through the Normandy's empty mess hall.

The medical bay door inconveniently slid shut as Chakwas and Ashley reached it, giving James a slight head start. And though he was stumbling as he went, he was still managing to run without falling.

Painfully he made his way up the stairs and paused when he reached the top, the sight causing him to freeze in place. There were many holographic terminals along the outer 'wall' of the room, and a large holographic star map rotating in the center of another series of terminals. He noticed he'd drawn the attention of a few of the personnel, making him realize his inappropriate state of attire. He was only wearing his sparring shorts and had his hands and ankles still taped, but aside from that he had nothing else on. Small scars that he didn't remember having traced his chest, and one of his legs was covered by some sort of thin, odd looking brace. Quickly his eyes went to his left hand and he noticed his wedding ring was missing, his heart sinking as he realized it had been in the glove compartment of his car.

"Somebody stop him!" He heard Ashley yell behind him, snapping him to alertness.

Immediately, personnel started rushing him. With a couple of loud cracks he sent two of them to the floor with a sweeping kick and then gave the third man an uppercut, sending him falling into one of the consoles. The move also sent James to the floor in pain from his injuries, which he just realized must have been much worse than he thought. _"Damn it! How long have I been out? This would have taken weeks to heal up..." _He thought, still in slight shock over the sudden piercing pain moving through his body.

With every bit of his strength and stubbornness, James pushed himself up and sloppily ran towards the front of the ship. A couple of other personnel tried to stop him but he was able to bull rush them out of the way and reach the forward doors.

"STOP!" Ashley shouted, her gun drawn and aimed at his head. She had followed him and was now standing about 20 feet away from the door he was at.

James looked wildly at her, his desperate confusion evident in his face, and her shaken resolve to shoot him evident in hers.

The door slid open, and he broke his gaze as he walked into what he assumed was an airlock. Ashley cursed as she lowered her gun and ran to the door, arriving again just as the doors shut and started the decontamination process.

"Lock it down! There's no telling how he will respond once he get's out there, and those injuries are going to kill him if he keeps this up!" The doctor yelled down the corridor as she caught up to Ashley.

"I can't, he's... He's already out." Came the sober reply from Ashley as she holstered her gun and waited for the interior doors to open again.

* * *

As soon as the exterior doors opened, Dr. Chakwas and Ashley ran out into the spaceport and headed for the elevator. They stopped however when they heard something behind them. They turned to see a figure on the far side of the docking pier, kneeling on the ground and punching the floor violently with his fists. Quickly they moved over to him.

James slumped over onto the ground, partially in defeat and in part to exhaustion from the sedatives the doctor had given him. _"Am I dead?"_ He asked himself in a weary voice, barely heard by the two approaching women.

Dr. Chakwas slowly approached the man and carefully put her hand on his shoulder, causing no reaction from him. "No James, you're not dead. But between you getting yourself hurt or beating up half the crew, you're going to cause a lot more work for me." She teased halfheartedly. "Look..." Her tone becoming more serious. "...Please let me help you. I know you are confused right now but you have to trust me."

"_This... this doesn't feel like a dream... I don't understand."_ He whispered in shock as looked down from the amazing view of the Citadel's starport and stared at his knuckles, blood soaking the tape wrapped around his hands and dripping to the floor.

"Come on, you need to rest."


	3. Critical Care

**Critical Care**

James started to wake up as he heard an argument occurring in the room.

"Doctor! Why isn't this man being restrained? He assaulted half of the Normandy's crew and left three in the infirmary! He isn't even in isolation from them!"

"Ambassador, the man had a lot on his mind when he first woke up. I can't say I wouldn't have reacted the same way in his position."

"And who's to say he won't do it again Commander?"

"I do." Came Chakwas' confident reply. "I have talked with James since the incident and he has become increasingly stable, as well as expressing regret for harming the crew. As Commander Shepard said, this is a lot for him to try to understand. As it is for all of us, I'm sure."

The Ambassador shook his head. "I _still_ don't believe any of this, it's ridiculous! Some random street thug time traveled in a primitive vehicle from Earth to a distant solar system two hundred years into the future? Ridiculous!" The Ambassador waved his hand away in disgust at the idea.

"With all due respect, he _wasn't _a street thug Ambassador." Chakwas replied adamantly.

The Ambassador looked at him with disgust. "For all we know he is just some lunatic!"

James kept his eyes closed and his breathing steady, continuing to act as if he was still sedated. As they continued to talk he slightly parted his eyelids so he could partially make out some of the figures in the room.

"I saw him come out of the beacon, and so did Lieutenant Alenko! As we already said in our reports, the beacon exploded and his vehicle appeared out of it and crashed right to the side of us!" Ashley yelled.

"Do not forget your place Chief Williams! If I want your opinion then I will ask for it, otherwise you are to remain silent!" The Ambassador 's words hit Ashley almost as if she was struck, sending her back a step and causing her to instantly revert to standing at attention.

A distinguished looking black man stepped forward from the side of Shepard and eyed the Ambassador almost annoyingly. "Regardless, Ambassador Udina, a two ton 200 year old vehicle appearing out of thin air is hard to ignore. We were able to extract recordings from the ground team's omni-tools that confirm this, as well as showing some type of... tachyon burst of energy as the vehicle appeared."

As a reply to the information, Udina just shook his head. "Captain Anderson, I saw the reports, but it is hardly proof of anything substantial! That pile of junk could have come from anywhere! He could be working with Saren! Perhaps he is trying to infiltrate your team!"

Anderson shook his head. "It just doesn't add up. Neither the geth nor Saren would come up with anything like _this_ as a cover for infiltration."

"Maybe there is another possibility." Dr. Chakwas spoke up. "After the... earlier _incident_, James told me when he was underwater he saw a bright light that pulled his vehicle towards it... ...Maybe there was another Prothean beacon in that river on Earth that pulled him in 200 years ago, and then somehow transported him to the one on Eden Prime when it was activated?"

Captain Anderson spoke up before Udina could start his protest of the idea. "We don't even know what the purpose of the beacon on Eden Prime was. It could be a weapon, or a communication network, or even some type of transportation network like the mass relays."

"Considering the beacon was destroyed and the mission was a complete failure we will never know now will we?" Udina finally interjected. This of course sparked a defensive rebuttal from Captain Anderson.

James watched all of them talking and sized up one of the newcomers that he hadn't seen. Commander Shepard stood to the side of the argument, looking somewhat impatient. She had blond hair that stopped at her jawline and seemed too bright to be completely natural, and she wore slight eye shadow which accented her eyes with a certain intensity. He could immediately tell that she was a hardened veteran with the way she carried herself.

But regardless James still wasn't completely convinced any of this was real, though he figured he'd just lay low until he could get some answers.

The Ambassador continued. "I suggest keeping these wild 'theories' to yourselves. Just like Shepard's supposed visions from the beacon, this is all nonsense without proof."

"I've had enough of this." Shepard interrupted. "In case you forgot we have leads we have to follow. If we don't get evidence of Saren's betrayal then none of this matters anyway. Ashley, you and Kaidan will be coming with me." She then turned to Dr. Chakwas and motioned towards James. "He's in your care until we decide what to do with him."

With that, Shepard walked out the room followed by Ashley, Anderson, and a visibly upset Udina.

* * *

After a few minutes, Chakwas broke the silence in the room. "It's nice to finally have some peace and quiet."

James lay still and carried on his steady breathing.

She chuckled. "The sedatives wore off an hour ago, you're not going to convince me you slept through all_ that._"

James burst a small laugh and despite his best efforts, couldn't help but smile.

Chakwas smiled back at him as she walked over and sat in a chair near his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Mentally or physically?" He replied with a sigh, his eyes still closed.

The doctor cocked her head slightly and leaned back in her chair. "Both."

"Fine, I just want to get up and moving again." Came his short answer.

The doctor just stared at him unconvinced, raising her eyebrow slightly. "You know, you have to talk to someone about this."

James shook his head and blinked his eyes open towards her. "Doc, I'm still not sure what the hell _this_ is."

"Do you..." Chakwas hesitated. "...do you still think you're dead?"

James stared off into the distance. "No... But I don't know. As much as I want to think this is all a dream I know it can't be..." He brought his hand up to his face and noticed his knuckles were completely healed and the bloody tape that was wrapped around his hand had been removed. "...And if it isn't a dream then I'm not sure I want to know what it could be..."

While he was looking at his hand he again noticed that his wedding ring was missing. Idly he rubbed the spot with his thumb, missing the feel of it around his finger.

Noticing this, Chakwas hesitantly looked at the ground, knowing her next question would be a difficult one for him. "Are you wondering what happened to her?"

The question visibly stung him, and he shuddered at the question. "I... I'd rather think she's still waiting for me at home, and I just need to find a way back to her..." He said as he looked past her with anguish in his eyes. _"I have to find a way out of this nightmare... real or not."_ He thought to himself.

Chakwas winced at the fact that she brought it up. "It's alright, I'm sorry. You've had enough of me bothering you for one day, I'll leave you to heal." As she stood up to go back to her station, he grabbed her arm. "Wait..."

Slightly startled, partially at the discomfort of the prior topic, Chakwas jumped slightly but waited for him to finish his thought. "...I could use a friend right now."

Chakwas smiled warmly and sat back down next to him. "Well you've got one right here."

They spent the next couple of hours talking about nothing in particular. For those few moments since the wreck, he felt like he was normal again, if only for a time...


	4. Doctor Doctor

**Doctor, Doctor**

James stretched his arms out over his head and cracked his neck to each side. He looked around the room and noticed the doctor was back at her station, busy typing something out at her terminal.

Eying the brace he was still wearing, he hesitantly swung his legs over the side of the bed and carefully put his weight on his feet. Surprisingly, this time he didn't feel any pain or instability, and he slowly started doing a few sets of squats to test out his legs. After a few sets the squats had transitioned into full squat thrusts for a more full body workout, complete with pushups and squat jumps.

After some time had passed the doctor turned in her chair. "Your injuries have almost fully healed, but I would recommend you keep the brace on your leg for a couple of days. Just in case you 'overexert' yourself _again_..."

James paused between one of his reps, sweat running down his face and chest. "So does that mean I'm free to go?"

"Not quite. That decision is up to the Captain." She replied.

He scratched the back of his head with a slight scowl on his face. "So I'm a prisoner?"

Chakwas chuckled slightly and shook her head. "Not at all. I'd leave it as simply being under doctor's supervision. Strict supervision."

James looked down at himself, noticing he was still wearing nothing but his satin fighting shorts.

Reading his expression, the doctor walked to a nearby storage container on the wall and pulled out some clothing. "These should fit you. The men's restroom is around the corner as you leave the medical bay, you can shower and change there. I don't have any shoes for you and you weren't wearing any when they brought you in here, but I sent a message to the requisitions officer in the cargo bay and he should be able to give you some standard issue boots. You can reach the cargo bay with the elevator by the bathroom."

She reached out to offer him the clothes, but as he tried to take them she held firm and did not let go. "I can trust you to stay on the ship and return here when you are done?" She searched his face seriously.

James paused for a moment. "Yeah." He replied in a somewhat disappointed tone.

Chakwas face turned less serious as she released her grip on the clothing. "I know you want to stretch your legs, and when you get back we will head into the wards on the Citadel. Your bloodwork revealed you are lacking a number of immunizations which I don't keep on supply here, so we need to go to a clinic to get them for you. Also they will need to install your translator so you won't be lost when you talk to other species."

He was idly inspecting the white shirt and blue pants she had handed him, when suddenly he realized the last thing she had said and snapped his head back up. "Wait, what other species?" He paused and then shook his head. "No, never mind. At this point I don't think _anything_ is going to surprise me..." He shook his head as he headed out of the medical bay towards the men's restroom.

* * *

James bounced on the balls of his feet as he impatiently waited for the elevator to reach the cargo bay.

The shower he took had been long overdue, and aside from a momentary breakdown it had been relaxing. He looked at his red knuckles, thankful he hadn't drawn any blood when he punched the wall of the shower. As much trouble as he was having accepting his current situation, he didn't want to trouble the doctor anymore with his personal conflict.

Stretching his shoulders, James noted how the white shirt she'd given him was barely large enough for him. It was form fitting and felt like cotton, clearly defining his chest and back, though he mused that had it actually been made of cotton it would probably have ripped when he stretched. The blue pants he was wearing were a different story. They were probably a size too big, and fit somewhat loosely, almost like kickboxing pants he mused. For a moment he wondered if the doctor picked out the sizes of his clothes purposely because of his fighting style or if they were simply the only sizes she had.

Before he finished the thought however, the elevator doors finally opened up to reveal the cargo bay of the ship. James stepped out and paused to take in the view of the area, then he walked barefoot across the metal floor over to the only crewman in the hold.

"You must be James." The Requisition Officer greeted hesitantly. "I heard a lot about you..."

James smirked and leaned in towards the Officer. "All bad things, I'm sure."

"Well the doc vouched for you, so that's enough for me." He paused as he looked at James's feet and then rummaged through some storage crates nearby. "Here, try these on." The Requisition Officer said as he held out a pair of standard issue marine boots.

James quickly put them on and was surprised at how comfortable they were. He hopped up and down a couple of times, noting their weight and the amount of damage they could do in a kick.

The Requisition Officer eyed him before speaking. "Well... um... that's about all I can do for you. I'd have to get clearance from the Captain to get you anything else."

"What else do you have?" James asked with a nod.

The Officer just shook his head. "Equipment, but... I really can't talk to you about any of it without clearance."

James tilted his head. "I don't suppose you have any combat gloves do you? I'm sure you don't need clearance for that."

The Officer thought for a moment, then turned around and started digging through another storage crate. He retrieved some black armored combat gloves that had a thick red line across the knuckle area. "I was going to toss these out since the gauntlets they were attached to were too badly damaged to repair." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You aren't planning on getting into another fight on the ship are you?" The Officer asked worriedly.

James laughed slightly. "Heh, no... I wouldn't need gloves for that anyway." This caused the Officer to narrow his eyes at him. "The doc is going to be taking me off the ship and I'm not sure what we're going to run into out there. You want her in good hands right?" He added, tilting his head to the other side.

The Officer eyed him before sighing heavily in acceptance. "These are designed for even punching Krogan, but good luck with that if you ever actually try it." He tossed the heavy gloves to James. "They're meant to be worn with a powered exo-suit and can cause fatigue without one, but you look like you should be able to handle them."

"Thanks." James said with a nod. He put the gloves on which fit him snugly, though he was unprepared for how heavy they actually were.

He did a slight salute with two fingers at the Requisition Officer and turned back towards the elevator.

* * *

"Elevators in the future sure are slow." James mused as the C-Sec elevator descended from where the Normandy was docked. He was leaning against the side of the lift, idly thumbing the area on his left glove where his wedding ring normally was.

Chakwas tried to ignore the action and instead chuckled slightly. "You're missing the rest of your hard-suit."

James looked up, slightly confused, before realizing what she meant. "Oh, well I didn't think he would give me a _pistol_, so I figured this would be better than nothing." He said as he punched his fists together with a loud thud.

"I understand James, you're in a strange place and you want something to help you feel safe..." She said, her head cocked the side to read his response.

"No." He replied somewhat coldly as he lowered his head and spoke in a low tone. _"The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."_

The doctor turned to him. "Sun Tzu?"

"Yep." Came his response. "I don't like not being prepared for a fight."

Chakwas put her hand on his arm. "Well you have nothing to worry about, the Citadel Presidium is one of the most secure areas in the galaxy."

"With the slowest elevators in the galaxy." He added, keeping his eyes fixed on the door.

"Well, the reason for the slow speed is-" She was cut off as the doors opened to reveal the main area of C-Sec. James immediately stepped out and started staring at all of the different aliens in the area. There were mostly what looked like bird-like reptilian aliens with some kind of mandibles around their mouths, but he also saw other ones which looked exactly like humans only blue with tentacles on their heads. Many of the aliens seemed to be speaking the same language, but he couldn't make any of it out. He could see why the translator would be needed, though he was slightly amused that he had figured the aliens would all speak English.

After a few moments of taking everything in, he turned back towards Chakwas.

"Well?" She asked with an amused look.

James took a deep breath. "Actually, it's not as bad as I thought. I guess I was expecting aliens with spider faces or something. Or maybe some of those giant robot insects I saw in that dream."

Chakwas laughed and then immediately stiffened up at his last comment. "Wait, what dream?"

James scratched his head. "I didn't tell you about that? Not like it's important, but I had some kind of hallucination when I was about to drown. Something about machines wiping out all life..." He said nonchalantly as he waved the idea off with his gloved hand. "Anyway, it's good to see I was wrong... Or should I be on the lookout for one of those things?" He said as he started to look around, as if trying to spot one.

Chakwas stared at him in thought. "I think Shepard had a similar vision from the beacon... We'll need to ask her about this when we see her."

James paused and looked at her, looking somewhat confused. "Whatever you say Doc." He finally respond, then went back to idly observing his surroundings.

With a slightly concerned look on her face, Chakwas leaned in towards James and put her hand on his arm. "Are you really sure you're alright with all this?" She said as she motioned towards all of the aliens passing by. "You're taking this surprisingly well considering the circumstances..."

"I'm not going to start punching aliens if that's was you're afraid of." James responded flatly.

Chakwas crossed her arms and tilted her head in disapproval at his answer.

James shook his head. "You worry too much Doc... Let's just get going." He said as he started to walk away.

Chakwas remained silent in thought as she fell into step beside him.

* * *

As they entered the medical clinic, they were greeted by a friendly red haired woman with an accent that James thought might be French. "Hello, Dr. Chakwas! I received your message and I have everything ready."

As they approached her, James noticed that she had a similar haircut to Chakwas and jokingly thought to himself that maybe doctors were required to wear their hair that way.

Chakwas smiled and motioned towards James. "James this is Doctor Michel, Doctor Michel this James." She paused before continuing. "Doctor Michel and I go back a couple of years, I get supplies from her from time to time since the Alliance can be a little, _utilitarian_ with their restocking."

"To say the least!" Doctor Michel replied. "I still can't believe they don't stock you with more Medi-gel than they do!"

Chakwas just nodded in reply, while James idly looked around the room with disinterest.

"Anyway, this will only take a moment. Come lay down over here." Dr. Michel said as she lead James over to the nearest medical bed.

James waited for a few minutes as she circled behind him and examined the back of his head. A couple of times he could have sworn he felt something pinch his scalp and at one point he felt a pressure on his arm, but he shrugged it off as just part an examination.

"All done!" Doctor Michel exclaimed, surprising James.

As he was about to get up the doors to the medical clinic opened and five armed men abruptly filed into the room.

James immediately became alert but tried not to change his outward appearance. He noted that they were all dressed with the same red shirts and didn't seem to be wearing any protective gear. The one in the front, whom he assumed was the leader, had some sort of green visor covering one of his eyes.

The leader of the group, seemingly surprised at their presence, stepped forward with his hand on his pistol. "We're going to need some privacy with the doc. Now get out!"

Both James and Chakwas looked at Dr. Michel, who passed them a pleading look not to leave. "This man has _severe_ internal injuries and _can't _be moved." Doctor Chakwas stated in an immovable tone.

"Oh really?" The leader said with sarcasm as he walked over to the bed. "I don't suppose the doc here has been telling you about any of her recent patients has she?"

"I haven't said anything I swear!" Doctor Mitchel suddenly yelled out. "Quiet!" He responded forcefully.

Chakwas backed away from the bed and moved slightly behind a metal column attached to one of the dividers separating the room. James didn't miss her action, nor the meaning behind it.

The leader moved to the side of James, about even with where his knees were on the bed. James's eyes quickly darted to the rest of the intruders who were still in a tight group by the door, watching for their superior's next move. From their position, the group didn't seem to have an immediate line of fire to Chakwas but could still see Doctor Mitchel.

The leader drew his pistol and held it down to his side. James then heard a strange noise that he could only assume was the gun cocking.

The man turned his head away and snickered at his comrades. "We got ourselves a big one boys! Looks like he wanted to be a soldier but could only afford the gloves!" The group at the door laughed with a malicious tone.

James's face changed from a quiet calm to a twisted smirk. "_Not quite."_ He responded with cold amusement.

As the leader was turning back around, James quickly sat up and grabbed the hand holding the pistol with one hand, and then used his other hand to deliver a violent punch to the leader's throat. The blow caused a sickeningly loud crunch to be heard across the room that made his henchman lurch back in surprise.

James then jumped up and dragged the hapless choking leader in front of him for cover as he unceremoniously shoved a shocked Doctor Mitchel over the metal divider where Chakwas was now taking cover.

With the doctors out of the fight, James shifted his attention to the group at the door, ignoring the wide-eyed man in front of him who was quickly suffocating from a severely crushed larynx. James easily pulled the pistol out of the man's weak grasp, who immediately assumed the 'International Sign of Choking' position.

"If you guys want your leader to live through this, then throw your guns down!" James yelled at them, keeping the man in front of him as a shield as he slowly walked towards them, closing the distance between them.

The group of four men were still tightly packed by the door, but were now split in half on either side of it. They now had their weapons drawn, and were looking at each other to try to figure out what they should do. A couple of them nodded, and then James heard the same noise that he now recognized as the weapons being cocked.

"_Was worth a try."_ He thought to himself.

"On second thought, take him!" James yelled as he threw the senseless leader into the two men nearest him, and then immediately opened fire on the other two. One thug fell backwards immediately with a shot to his head and neck, while the other fell over forwards after taking a hit to the leg. James dove for the nearest pillar, throwing himself behind it for cover.

Sparks flew off the side of the pillar as shots rang out in the room. One man was still being desperately grabbed by the dying leader in a futile attempt for help, but the other two had recovered and had their weapons trained on James's location.

James blind fired around the side of the pillar, causing a momentary pause in return fire from the henchmen. He stormed out of cover and jumped over a metal divider near the opposite side of them, landing face to face with one of the men who was taking cover. The man drew his head back in surprise, and James pulled the trigger on the gun he held at his stomach. Wide-eyed in dismay, the man clutched the wound in his stomach and started to slump over in pain. James propped the man up and locked eyes with him, then continued to fire the gun into his chest as he pushed him forward into the group of men behind him. James powerfully kicked the lifeless body forward into the merc with the wounded leg, causing them both to fall backwards onto the floor.

Another shot went off and James felt a sharp burning in his arm, causing him to drop the pistol. To his left he saw that the man who had been struggling with the now suffocated leader had recovered and had his gun trained on him. Before the man could get another shot off, James kicked the gun out of his hand and leaped on top of him. James gained a high mount on the henchman's chest, effectively pinning him down, and began violently punching the man's face with his good arm. After two swings, the man's head had already caved in slightly due to the heavy armored gloves James was wearing. With a blank expression of determination, James continued to strike the same spot over and over again until he began striking the floor underneath the man's body.

"My God..." A distraught voice came from his right.

James looked up from the carnage and his piercing eyes met with the last surviving henchman, who's face held a mixture of disbelief and horror as he held his trembling pistol aimed at James' head.

A loud gunshot broke the silence of the room. The last thug dropped his gun and slumped over lifelessly, blood dripping out of the lone wound in the center of his head.

At the open door a lone alien stood, slowly lowering his drawn weapon and surveying the scene in front of him with a look of shock.

The alien only muttered one word, which James was sure he would have understood even without his new translator:

"_Uh..."_


	5. Introductions

**Introductions**

James sat quietly and watched from across the room as a thoroughly disheveled Doctor Michel explained the events of the last few minutes to the group of people in front of her. Commander Shepard and her team had arrived moments after the alien 'Garrus', and after brief introductions they were all now listening to the doctor explain what happened.

Currently, James was sitting at a medical station with his shirt off and Chakwas tending to the gunshot wound on his arm.

"What's the damage?" He quietly asked between breaths, adrenaline still surging through him.

"It's just a flesh wound, you'll be fine in a moment." Chakwas stated with surprising calm considering what had just happened.

He felt a cooling sensation as the pain in his arm faded away.

After she finished, Chakwas walked away and retrieved a towel from a nearby drawer. She moved in front of James and silently began sponging clumps of blood and tissue from his glove and forearm.

Periodically she would look up at him and study his face while continuing to clean the blood off of him. James avoided her eye contact, choosing instead to stare intently at the floor.

Once James was cleaned up, Chakwas picked up his shirt from a nearby table and handed it to him quietly.

As he put his shirt back on, Doctor Michel and the group finished their conversation and moved over to where James and Chakwas were.

Garrus shook his head and turned to James. "I read about you in the Eden Prime report... So you're the one that came out of the beacon?"

James shrugged. "I guess."

Before speaking, Shepard stared at James for a moment, almost as if sizing him up. "What _exactly_ did you do back on Earth?"

"I was a heavyweight fighter in a couple of different professional leagues. I mostly did Muay Thai, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. Before that I did some weapons and other training so I could join the Navy Seals. That's about it." James stated plainly, trying not to think too much into his past.

Shepard cocked her head slightly. "That explains most of the mess over there, but why the hell is one of them missing his _head_?"

James straightened up slightly at the question. "He shot me." He shrugged.

The response elicited a brief smirk from Shepard.

There was a silence in the room for a while before Garrus turned his head towards Shepard. "Navy Seals?"

"It was an elite special forces group that dissolved after the Alliance was formed. It was notoriously hard to get into." Shepard replied before turning her attention back to James. "So you were in the seals?"

"No... I never joined up." Came his cold answer.

Shepard paused for a moment before continuing. "Why didn't you?"

The question caused visible pain in James's face, and he immediately looked down at his gloved ring finger. "I... found a reason not to leave." He answered distantly.

Seeing his expression, Shepard decided to change the subject. "So Doctor Michel, why were those men threatening you? Who do they work for?"

Doctor Michel stood up from the medical bed where she was sitting. "They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up and keep me from telling Garrus about the Quarian."

Shepard turned to Garrus. "Does this have anything to do with the investigation into Saren?"

Garrus thought for a moment. "I think it might. Doctor Michel, tell us what happened."

Doctor Michel started to pace back and fourth a couple of steps as she began her story. James found the conversation somewhat hard to follow, and as she talked he started observing the other people in the room. At one point his eyes met with Doctor Chakwas, whom was giving him a serious look of concern. James immediately broke eye contact and looked instead at Garrus, who was currently talking to Shepard.

"That Quarian must have something Saren wants..." He paused in thought. "...Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

"She must have something that proves he's a traitor." Shepard replied, then turned to Doctor Michel. "Did the Quarian mention anything about Saren, or the Geth?"

Doctor Michel nodded. "She did. The information she was going to trade, she said it had something to do with the Geth."

Garrus turned back to Shepard. "She must be able to link Saren to the Geth! There's no way the counsel can ignore _this_!"

James cleared his voice loudly, drawing the attention of the others in the room. "Anyone mind giving me a rundown on what the hell is going on?"

"There's too much to go into, I'll have to explain it later." Shepard replied before turning back to Garrus. "Right now I think it's time we paid Fist a visit."

"This is your show Shepard, but I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!" Garrus stated adamantly.

Shepard thought about it for a second. "You're a Turian. Why do you want to bring him down?"

"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation but I knew what was really going on. Saren is a traitor to the counsel, and a disgrace to my people!" Garrus said forcefully.

"Good enough for me." Shepard stated plainly. "Welcome aboard Garrus."

Garrus shook Shepard's hand, then looked as if another thought had just come to him. "You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a Krogan bounty hunter named 'Wrex' to take him out. Last I heard he was at the C-Sec Academy."

"What's he doing there?" Kaiden spoke up.

"Fist accused him of making threats, so we brought him in for a little _talk_. If you hurry, you can catch him at the Academy before he leaves." Garrus responded.

Shepard put what James would have described as her 'game face' on, and turned to address her team. "Kaiden, I want you escort Doctor Chakwas back to the ship." Kaiden nodded and Doctor Chakwas walked over next to him. "Ashley and I will head to C-Sec and see if Wrex would be willing to join us." Shepard then turned to Garrus. "Garrus, I want you to go scout out Chora's Den ahead of us. I don't want Fist to make another move while we're going to get Wrex." Garrus gave Shepard a nod of acknowledgment.

"James." Shepard said, her tone making him sit up slightly. "If you want to know what's going on and you're feeling up to it, then you can go with Garrus. He can fill you in on the details while you are en-route. But it's your choice."

James thought for a moment. "Alright, but I'm going to have a _lot _of questions for you." He pointed towards Garrus.

Garrus nodded. "If everything is quiet over there we should have plenty of time for them before Shepard arrives."

Chakwas looked at James with concern, then turned to Shepard. "Commander, I don't believe that James is fit to go on a combat mission... He just had a pretty traumatic experience." She said as she looked over at the dead bodies.

Shepard shook her head. "Looks like he did just fine." She stated plainly, and then looked intently at James. "How do you feel? Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I'm _fine_." He said confidently after shooting Chakwas a quick glance. Shepard Nodded in response. "But if I'm going to back him up then I'm going to need something more than just _these_." He said as he raised his fists.

Shepard motioned towards the dead bodies on the floor, their weapons strewn about haphazardly. "Take your pick."

At this, Kaiden stepped forward. "Commander, are you sure about that? He isn't military and he has no training with any of those weapons..." He stated hesitantly.

Shepard turned towards him and held up her hand. "Kaiden, don't start quoting regulations on me." She stated annoyingly. "He _obviously _doesn't seem to have a problem handing them, and Garrus can give him a quick rundown while they're waiting for us." Garrus nodded. "Besides, I'll take all the help we can get." She added.

She paused briefly, and then turned back to address the rest of the group. "Alright everyone, let's move out."


	6. The Quarian

_Writers Notes:_

_Sorry for the massive hiatus everybody! Life caught up with me, but I'll try to update the story more often now. (I'm aiming for every two to three weeks.) If you like the story, post a review, I appreciate the feedback. Anyway, on with the story..._

* * *

**The Quarian**

James and Garrus had arrived outside Chora's Den some time ago, positioning themselves behind some catwalks just out of sight of the entrance. After they'd arrived, Garrus had initially given James a crash lesson in modern weaponry, and had since been passing the time by explaining everything he could about the current state of affairs in the Galaxy. He told James a torrent of facts and speculations about Saren and Eden Prime, but at some point had drifted off topic and began complaining about the way Citadel security handles things.

"The problem is all of the red tape, it usually slows us down just enough that the criminals get away." Garrus stated frustratingly, his back leaning against a railing of a catwalk.

James was opposite of him, a slight look of disinterest on his face as he looked past Garrus's shoulder at the entrance of Chora's Den. The look was the same that James had displayed through most of Garrus's conversation, but the use of a familiar phrase caught his attention.

"Red tape?" James repeated with a raised eyebrow.

Garrus nodded. "Yeah, it's a human expression isn't it? Something about how-" James suddenly began laughing, interrupting the turian.

"What?" Garrus offered hesitantly, surprised by the outburst.

James smiled and shook his head as if to clear thought out of his mind. "It's nothing." He replied, waving him off. "I just realized I don't actually think of any of you as aliens."

Garrus cocked his head to the side in question.

"You're more like just a really ugly human." James said as he cracked a wry smile.

"Well..." Garrus leaned forward, pointing at him accusingly. "…you're _way_ too ugly to be a turian."

They both paused for a moment, and then each offered a single chuckle at the statement. They were abruptly silenced however, as Shepard cut in through the com channel with a short but assertive request.

"Status report."

Garrus straightened up slightly before responding. "Nothing to report Shepard, it's been quiet since we got here. Although something doesn't seem right… There just isn't any activity here, almost like the bar is closed or…"

"An ambush?" Shepard replied, almost reading the turian's mind.

Garrus looked towards the entrance and nodded. "Yeah, most likely."

A booming voice suddenly erupted behind them. "That won't help Fist. They'll die all the same."

Garrus and James quickly turned to find Shepard, Ashley, and what James saw to be a towering lizard in red armor. Even at almost 6 and a half feet tall and 255 pounds of lean muscle, James still had to tilt his head up to make eye contact with the red-eyed behemoth.

"Krogan?" James muttered as he eyed the creature up and down, remembering the description of different species that Chakwas had given him.

"Human." The hulking mass spat back at him, leaning forward as he did so.

Shepard walked forward and got between them, motioning towards the entrance to Chora's Den. "Long story Wrex, let's clear that shit hole out and talk about it later."

"Heh." Wrex chuckled menacingly. "I wouldn't want to keep Fist waiting."

"Garrus, you and James stay here and watch our backs. If they send any reinforcements notify me on the coms, I don't want any surprises." Shepard ordered over her shoulder as she and her squad began moving towards the entrance.

Garrus nodded and crouched back behind the solid metal railing of the catwalk they were standing behind. James followed suit and almost immediately they began to hear an intense firefight coming from the bar. After a few minutes of distant gunfire and multiple explosions, only the periodic sound of hover cars could be heard flying past the catwalks where Garrus and James waited. Garrus shifted his weight from one knee to the other as they waited impatiently for any sign of life from the Commander.

"Do you think-" James started, but was cut off by Shepard's voice crackling through a static-filled com line. "*static* Quarian… *static* …back alley by the markets…*static* …in the wards…" The line went dead as it filled with nothing but static.

"Damn! The com line is getting jammed!" Garrus cursed as he opened up a holographic device on his arm and began inputting commands. "I can't tell from where, but the jamming signal is getting stronger so they must be getting closer…"

"I think I found them." James offered dryly. Garrus followed his gaze to see a large group of armed men rushing to Chora's Den.

Garrus muttered additional curses as he noted the size of the force heading in. "We need to warn Shepard, but one of us needs to go meet with the quarian in case she's in danger."

"So it's the devil you know or the devil you don't?" James replied wryly. "I already got shot once today, so I don't think I'll push my luck flanking a giant group of armed men. I'll go meet up with the quarian."

"Alright." Garrus nodded. "Head back the way we came in, there's an alleyway to the left which should be the one Shepard was talking about. I'm guessing the quarian should be waiting there for us, but there's no telling what Shepard was trying to say so just be careful." James nodded in understanding and began to make his way back towards the alley.

* * *

James eventually arrived at the red-lit corridor behind the wards marketplace. As he made his way through he was able to make out figures towards the end of the alleyway, but only one of them was recognizably female, which James assumed to be the quarian. The one talking to her was a seedy-looking turian, and in the background James noticed there where two other alien species that he couldn't identify. All of them where armed, however only the two unrecognizable aliens had their weapons drawn. As he approached, James could begin to hear the conversation between the turian and quarian.

The turian eyed the quarian up and down, as if sizing up prey. "Did you bring it?"

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" Said the quarian in a concerned tone as she took a step back from the turian.

The turian stepped forward and stroked the side of her arm. "They'll be here. Where's the evidence?"

"No way. The deal's off." She replied, slapping the turians hand away and attempting to take another step back. She fails however, as the turian steps forward and quickly grabs her wrists as she attempts to push him back.

"Now wait, that's no way to talk. We were just getting friendly..."

* * *

Suddenly, James is having a flashback to a lifetime ago. He's at a seedy country bar, back on earth in his own time. They're just supposed to be having a fun night out, some drinking and dancing.

He spots her by the bar. His wife, his love.

"Sarah!" He yells, but between the music and the loud-talking patrons, his voice doesn't make it to her. He's had enough of this place, only going here at her request. It was a spur of the moment decision, though he doesn't remember why they picked this dump of all places.

He sees the asshole sit down next to her with a smug look on his face. She turns away, muttering something dismissively. James tries making his way through the crowd, but the bar is packed and it is taking too long for his liking. He loses sight of her for a moment. Concerned, he begins using his imposing mass to push the other patrons out of the way.

Briefly, he's able to see her again. The asshole has his arm around her. She's trying to squirm out of his grip, but he's forcefully holding her in her seat. He sees the hand begin to creep up her leg, bunching up her dress as it moves. She yells something but he can't hear it through the noise of the bar.

James balls his fists up and bull rushes through the crowd, his adrenaline surging with every stride.

* * *

"Let go you bosh'tet!" The quarian yells defiantly.

The turian opens his mouth to reply, but turns his head instead as he hears the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. The last thing he sees is a wild-eyed human form leaping towards him and forcefully delivering a massive haymaker to the side of his head. The crunch of bone from the human's fist is sickeningly loud, due in equal parts to the strength of the swing and to the armored gloves he was wearing. The turian's head snaps to the side, and his lifeless body releases it's grip on the quarian as it crumples to the floor.

The quarian is stunned momentarily, but quickly recovers as she notices the two aliens behind them bringing their weapons to bear. She quickly throws what James assumes to be a grenade at the two aliens' feet, sending them both to the floor. As they are getting up, both James and the quarian draw their weapons and fire on the two aliens, James with his pistol and the quarian with her shotgun. Within moments, both aliens are back on the floor, a large pool of blood forming around their bodies.

Both the quarian and James stand there for a moment, each breathing heavily and still staring at the bodies on the floor. As the adrenaline subsides and their breathing slows, their gazes shift to each other. After a tense pause, both slowly lower their weapons.

James is the first to holster his pistol. "Are you alright?" He asks, concern evident in his face.

The quarian was silent for a couple of seconds, as if intently considering something, before finally she holstered her shotgun to her back. "Yes, thank you." She offered. Her voice carried a thick accent, and the sound of it hit James somewhere deep in his chest. He immediately looked down at his gloved hand and became immensely aware of his missing wedding band. "Though, I _do_ know how to look after myself." She continued. "Not that I don't appreciate the assistance… Who _are_ you?"

"It's a long story… …but my name is James Walker and I'm here to help you." He said as he offered his hand to her.

She looked at his hand, and tilted her head slightly to the side as she shook it with her own.

"My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, but you can call me Tali."


	7. The Past

"James..." Dr. Chakwas regarded him as he entered the medbay.

He rubbed the back of his neck somewhat sheepishly as he smiled and moved past her to the medical bed that he normally slept in. He was tired after the day's events, and wanted nothing more than to get some rest. Shepard had taken the Quarian, Tali to see the council and show them the evidence she collected. With nothing to offer, James opted out of the event so he could get some shut eye. As he sat down on the edge of the bed, he glanced over to find the older woman still staring at him with a concerned look on her face.

"What?" He offered innocently, shrugging his shoulders as if to further feign ignorance of any wrongdoing.

Chakwas shook her head, not entirely surprised at his antics, and walked over to stand in front of him. She crossed her arms and leaned against the adjacent cot, eying him with an appraising look. She doesn't say a word, but just tilts her head and waits patiently for him to quit his facade.

A few moments pass before James breaks the silence. "Okay, if this is about what happened at the clinic-"

"You quite **literally** beat a man's head into **pulp**." Chakwas interjected, loudly putting emphasis on the last word.

He begins to shrug again, though isn't able to complete the motion before Chakwas grabs his shoulder. "James!" She barks out frustratingly.

He looks away, staring intently at a panel on the wall. "I saved your life."

The doctor's face softens, and she gives his shoulder a slight squeeze. "And I thank you for that. But let me help save yours." She moves to the side to intercept his gaze, looking into his eyes as she speaks in a slightly softer tone than before. "You'll get yourself killed if you keep on this way. I know that look in your eyes, that look you have even when you're joking..."

James tries to move his head to look away again, but she moves his chin back to force him to look at her. Her face is deadly serious, more so than she has ever been since they met. But it is her eyes that give him pause. For a moment he sees sadness in her eyes, and in a flash it is gone and replaced with a fire.

She speaks up again, her tone changing to almost an angry one. "I've been doing this a long time James. I've seen that same look you have in your eyes a hundred times before. I've seen it in patients, soldiers... _friends_." She says that last word as if it pains her. After a pause her voice rises again, recapturing the same fire it had before, but also sounding pleading at the same time. "I've seen what it does to them. You're _dead_ inside, and you're just waiting for your body to catch up. And if you keep on this way, you're not going to have to wait for long."

She finishes her statement by giving his shoulder a hard push backwards, and then abruptly spins around to storm out of the med bay.

* * *

As the door closes behind her, she nearly collides with a figure moving with almost as much purpose toward the med bay. "Captain Anderson! You must excuse me, I did not see you there." Chakwas managed weakly, forcing a smile as she said it.

Anderson gives her a knowing look, seemingly unconvinced that she should be smiling. "Is everything okay doctor?"

Chakwas sighed heavily. "Stubborn patient."

"Ah!" Anderson chucked slightly in recognition. "Just the one I was coming to talk to actually." He paused thoughtfully. "Though perhaps I should tell you instead... He's not going to like what I have to say."

The doctor straightened up at the last sentence, not looking forward to more news that would upset James. "Oh?"

"Tell me Doctor, has he asked any questions about his past?" Anderson stated seriously.

"Well, no... he hasn't. I honestly don't think he wants to know." She paused hesitantly. "Or maybe he just isn't ready... Why?" Her look changed to one of concern. "Did something terrible happen to his loved ones? His wife?"

Anderson's brow wrinkled in a worried look as he hesitantly responded. "He doesn't exist."

"What?" Chakwas almost laughed at the absurdity of the statement.

The man just shook his head. "Or at least his background doesn't. There's no record of him, his wife, or anything that he said. Nothing. I'm being told that he should be classified as a section 8 and be brought to an Alliance medical facility for mental evaluation."

"That's absurd! He's-" Chakwas began to object, but was halted by Anderson holding his hand up to let him continue.

"I agree. Something isn't right here." He shook his head. "Investigations like this usually take time, sometimes months, but this is different. Some people higher up seem to want to put a lid on this as quickly as possible... It doesn't make any sense. I don't know, it might just be the timing with Shepard becoming a Spectre. Perhaps they don't want the media getting wind of this and ruining the PR Shepard is generating for the Alliance. Either way, this just doesn't add up."

"Do you really expect me to just let you haul him off to some facility to be fitted for a straight jacket?" Chakwas muttered defiantly. She was taken off guard however, when Anderson chuckled at her display. "No no, I'm not going to let it come to that. Shepard is a Spectre now, which makes her somewhat outside of the Alliance's direct control. I've talked to her about it, and seeing as how this is now her ship, she is also able to recruit whatever crew she wants." Chakwas nodded, seeing where he was going. "And Shepard wants James on her crew, and a Spectre's authority over-rides this old Captain's any day of the week." He said as he chuckled at the statement.

There is a pause in the conversation as Chakwas mulls over what he's said. After a moment she seems to reach a decision and looks up from her thoughts. "If it is alright with you Captain, I'd prefer not telling James anything yet unless he starts asking questions. He certainly isn't crazy, but this news surely wouldn't help his sanity."

He nods in response. "Agreed Doctor. For what it's worth, I'm not done looking into this. I've called in some favors and have a few people doing some digging. I'll let you know what they find out as soon as I hear something."

"Thank you Captain." She says warmly. "I'm sure James will say the same once this is all cleared up."

Anderson shakes his head, a troubled look sweeping over his face. "I'm not so sure he will, but the man deserves to know the truth either way."


	8. The Present

"Sarah!" James yelled as he shot up upright in the medical cot. It took him a moment to recognize that he was in the medbay of the Normandy, and not in fact back on Earth. His nightmares still lingered in his mind, visions of his wife and his home being torn apart by ancient sentient machines. He shook the memory from his head and looked around, not finding the doctor at her station and realizing he was in fact alone in the room. Sighing, he laid his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes, attempting to calm his still rapid heartbeat.

After some time, the silence of the room was broken by the sound of his stomach reminding him that he hadn't had anything to eat in a good while. Reluctantly, James sat up in his cot and stifled a yawn, still tired after having his sleep interrupted. After stretching his limbs and feeling a few pops and cracks, he got up and headed out of the medbay.

Making his way over to the mess hall, James opens a cabinet starts rifling through its contents. He pulls out a ration packet with a "Dextro" label on it, and starts reading the description on the side of the wrapping.

"Hi." The familiar voice from behind startles him slightly. He turns around to find a visibly nervous Quarian fidgeting with something in her hands.

"Oh, hey Tali." Upon saying her name, he notices her tilt her head slightly to the side.

James closes the cabinet and leans back against it, opening the ration packet and finding it to contain something resembling an energy bar. He takes a bite, wincing at the taste, and after a moment shrugs and continues eating it. Noticing her still fidgeting with the item in her hands, he nods toward it as he speaks up between bites. "That's not another grenade is it?"

Tali's eyes go wide as she's visibly startled at the question. "What? Keelah no!"

James chuckles at her response. "I was joking."

"Oh! Well um... it's called an omni-tool, a device used for... well for a lot of things actually. It can perform hacking, field repairs, small-scale fabrication, and many other tasks." She walks forward a couple of steps and raises the wrist watch-like omni-tool up closer for him to see.

James continues casually taking bites of the ration bar, but leans forward to get a better look at the item. "This one is a Logic Arrest model, albeit a lower end one. I salvaged it from one of the Salarians who attacked us in the alley. I was able to overclock its shield boosting ability, and I created a few shortcut programs so it is a bit easier for you do certain tasks." There is a short pause as Tali suddenly breaks eye contact and begins nervously fidgeting with the omni-tool again. "Shepard told me what happened to you... It's a lot to try to understand, but I thought... since you didn't have one of these... that you might want... I mean..."

"This is a present?" James interrupted, his eyebrows raised slightly. Having finished eating the ration bar, he crumples up the empty wrapper and puts it on the table before looking back at the still motionless Quarian.

"Um... well I suppose... Yes, yes it is." She nods as she extends her hand out to offer him the omni-tool.

As James takes the tool from her, his fingers slightly graze the palm of her gloved hand causing her to tense up slightly. The contact, however brief, causes a twinge of guilt to form in his chest as he remembers a vision of his long lost wife. He backs away a step to put some distance between them again, and then looks down at the omni-tool to busy himself with putting it on.

Seeing that he is struggling with it, Tali moves forward and reaches for his arm. "Let me help you wi-"

"**No**." James replies, more forcefully than he'd intended. Tali stops mid-reach, surprised at his tone. "I mean..." He continues. "I'd like to figure it out myself." She pauses for a moment longer, before silently nodding and recoiling her arm. She waits patiently as he figures out the release and locking mechanism on the omni-tool and attaches it to his wrist. After a few more moments, he has the tool fully-functioning and displaying a holographic screen indicating he can perform multiple commands.

With a small amount of hesitation, Tali moves forward to gesture towards a row of commands. "These are all the shortcut programs I created for you, they should help make things a bit easier until you get more familiar with some of the more advanced functions." She presses one, a combat scanning program, and executes it. The tool shows an overlay of Tali with highlighted areas showing the weakest points in her suit, as well as highlighting the fact that she has a knife attached to her leg. In the background, the display shows that there are multiple other contacts in the area, though the built-in IFF shows all present to be friendlies.

Motioning through some of the menus, she opens up the program's code in an separate screen. "If, you're interested, I also kept the programs uncompiled in case you wanted to learn how to customize them or make your own..." She trails off, nervously wringing her hands. "I'm sure you probably don't, I just-"

"Thanks." James interrupted with a reserved smile. "I'll definitely use them."

Tali looks up, seemingly surprised at his response.

"What?" He grins. "Did you think I was only good for hitting things?"

Her eyes go wide at the accusation. "N-no, I didn't mean to give that impression... I..." There is a pause, and her eyes show she's had a realization.

"You're joking again aren't you?" She says, sounding more like a statement than a question.

James laughs. "I must be pretty bad at it if you have to ask."

Tali shakes her head, then suddenly her body tenses up and her alarmed gaze seems to pierce right past James.

"Uh... My sense of humor can't be **that** bad..." He says wryly, unsure about the cause of her shock. He turns and follows her gaze to the crumpled wrapper on the table, the "Dextro" label clearly visible from their angle.

"You **ate** that?" Tali said slowly, almost not believing it.

James, confused, looks back and forth between her and the wrapper on the table "Oh... Was it yours?"

Tali shook her head. "No... It's just that... That was a **dextro** food ration, meant for **dextro** species. You're **not** a dextro species."

James rubbed the back of the head. "Should I be worried?" He said, though not sounding the least bit concerned.

"Perhaps." Tali was silent for a moment as she considered it. "At best you'll just still be hungry after eating it, or maybe you'll just get some cramps, but at worst you **could** have a severe allergic reaction..."

He shrugged off the thought. "I feel fine. I've got an iron stomach." He pounded on his abs a couple of times in demonstration. "It'll take more than an alien snack bar to-" He was cut off as his gut groaned so loudly that it startled both of them. "Okay, it's never made that sound before."

Rubbing his stomach, James went back to the ration cabinets and searched through a different stack of packets that did not have dextro written anywhere on them. He retrieved one and ripped it open.

"I'll just try fighting fire with fire." He said with a sheepish smile as he started eating the human food ration. "Now, how about you show me how to work this thing on my arm?"

Tali sighed and put her hand on her helmet in exasperation. There was something, however, that James couldn't see, due to the dark tint of her visor:

She was smiling.


	9. Therum

Writers Notes:

_Soooooooooo... No reviews for the last chapter. Zip. Zero. Nada. I know I said I'd be trying to get out a chapter every other week, but honestly the lack of reviews kind of threw me off. PLEASE review if you like it! Or review if you'd like to see more of something. Either way, REVIEW! And if I'm taking to long between posts, just review more, it will make me work faster. :)_

_Anyhow, enough of all that stuff, and on with the story..._

* * *

"Get down!"

James didn't look to see what Shepard was yelling about, and dove off into cover without any hesitation. A second later, a rocket exploded right where he had been standing, the shock wave still close enough to shower him with debris. His omnitool blinked with a notification prioritizing the geth rocket trooper that fired at him as the highest threat in the area. It was about 30 meters away, taking cover behind some type of mining equipment. James had dove behind a large boulder, and the rest of the team were scattered behind different pieces of machinery, all defending themselves from various dis-jointed geth attacks but also pinned down by the geth rocket trooper that was taking pot shots at them.

They had arrived on the planet Therum less than twenty minutes ago, and had been working their way through what turned out to be a very hostile Prothean dig-site. Shepard had taken James, Wrex, and Tali down the mineshaft, while Garrus, Kaiden, and Ashley stayed topside with the Mako to cover the entrance. Their objective was to find an alien doctor named Liara T'Soni, a so-called Prothean expert, and coincidentally the daughter of one of the people trying to destroy the galaxy. And while saving the galaxy was currently on his short-list of things to do, James also hoped more than anything she might know something about how he could get back home to his own time.. and to his wife.

Unfortunately while they did find the doctor, she turned out to be held behind some type of impenetrable force field, which caused them to get into their current position of trying to clear the area of geth to find some way to gain entry. James had never seen walking machines like these before, but they broke when he hit them, which was just about all he figured he needed to know.

Suddenly an indicator on his hud began blaring a warning alarm about an another incoming rocket, and also about the fact that the boulder he was crouching behind was insufficient cover for the impending blast. "SHIT!" Was all he could get out as he dove out of cover right as it exploded into chunks of gravel.

The ringing in his ears prevented him from immediately understanding the yelling coming in from his comms, but as he lay on the ground he noticed a seemingly small bit of information on his omnitool. The tactical threat analysis program that Tali had made for him had a number of stats about the geth that just tried to kill him, but there was a specific one that stood out right now: its re-fire rate was currently averaging 11.68 seconds with approximately 8 seconds remaining until the next shot.

* * *

_Moments earlier..._

Tali watched from cover as Shepard shouted "Get down!" at James, and was relieved to see him dive safely behind a boulder. She wasn't sure how he ended up so far out in the open, but the trail of geth bodies that lead up the the boulder left little to the imagination. As she was surveying the carnage, the distraction was enough to cause her to miss the fact that a geth platform was flanking her from behind. Her bright eyes went wide behind her visor as she became aware of the foe indicator blinking on her heads up display.

She cursed to herself and turned just soon enough to see the geth raising his rifle up, too quickly for her to swing her shotgun to bear. In a split second, one that seemed to be an eternity for Tali, its head exploded in a shower of sparks and mechanical fluid as a barrage of gunfire hit the geth. As the platform began to tip over lifelessly to the ground, Wrex appeared suddenly and knocked it out of the way as he threw himself against the cover she was pinned against. The impact of the large Krogan caused the massive machinery they where using as cover to shake slightly. Tali, still standing with a look of shock, barely acknowledged the massive hulk in front of her.

"QUARIAN, SNAP OUT OF IT!" The large mercenary's voice boomed, the shock of which visibly startled the woman.

Tali's glowing eyes momentarily disappeared from her visor as she shook her head to clear it. "Right. Um... Thank you Wrex." Getting a grunt as a response, she immediately scanned the area for more threats nearby and found a clustered group of geth on the far side of their cover. She primed a grenade and tossed it to where her omnitool indicated, bracing herself against the machinery where she and Wrex stood at as the explosion sent geth parts flying over them.

"HAHAHA! That's more like it!" Wrex laughed maniacally and unloaded his assault rifle into a surviving geth that charged their position.

Suddenly, behind her she heard James yell a human profanity right before a geth rocket exploded and showered the area with broken pieces of boulder. She turned and ran to the edge of her cover in time to see James laying face-down on the ground, a cloud of smoke and dirt still dissipating around him.

"James!" She yelled as he began to push himself up. She saw him look down at his omnitool momentarily, then without warning scramble to his feet and run full tilt down the battlefield.

"Where is that stupid pyjack going!?" Wrex yelled over his assault rifle as he mowed down a geth across the way that was attempting to flank Shepard.

Shepard didn't even turn as the geth exploded to her side, but instead looked past it with the stoic gaze of a battle-hardened warrior. She watched James sprinting across the no-mans land toward the geth rocket troopers position, and almost imperceptibly nodded as she determined his destination. "COVERING FIRE!" She roared across the battlefield as she unleashed a torrent of fire from her assault rifle.

A hail of gunfire erupted from Shepard's squad as multiple geth positions were engaged simultaneously. The geth, who were readying to fire on the lone human running in the open, instead re-prioritized the organics currently firing on them as the much higher threat.

* * *

_"5..."_

Gunshots flew past James as he rushed the enemy position, rounds passing close to his head causing his shields to shimmer.

_"4..."_

As he got closer he saw his target crouching behind the mining equipment, busying itself with reloading its ordinance.

_"3..."_

Without warning, the geth trooper stood up from cover, its rocket launcher shouldered and ready to fire.

_"Damnit! Too soon!"_

As he desperately tried to close the remaining 5 meters to his foe, his omnitool suddenly flashed: "REMOTE OVERRIDE. INITIATING OVERLOAD."

The geth's shields lit up and then immediately dissipated, the electrical current from his omnitool causing the platform become stunned and go into mechanized convulsions. He closed the gap and before the geth could recover, delivered a powerful superman punch into its headlamp, causing the synthetic to topple over backwards and drop its weapon. As it hit the ground, James fired two more shots into its head with his pistol to make sure it was dead.

He turned around to find the rest of the squad jogging up to meet him, having already dispatched the remaining geth. Noticing Shepard had a genuinely pissed look on her face, he turned instead to Tali, whom was busy inputting commands into her omnitool.

"REMOTE OVERRIDE DISENGAGED." His omnitool flashed, suddenly returning to normal as Tali finished typing.

James eyed Tali with somewhat mock suspicion, still breathing heavily after his full-tilt sprint down the battlefield. "Did... you hack my omnitool?"

"Well, yes and no... I um... Well.." Tali was silent for a moment and began wringing her hands nervously. "...I put in certain back doors in your omnitool so I could remotely execute commands on it."

"What?" Came the reply, surprisingly from Shepard, whom for the moment seemed to forget about being upset with James' reckless charge.

"Cleaver girl. Ha!" Came Wrex's amused reply. "...but don't let me catch you near any of my stuff."

Tali suddenly looked panicked, and was looking frantically back and fourth between her squadmates. "Wait, it's not like that! It was meant to help James, in case he got into trouble! I didn't think he would be using his omnitool to its fullest in combat, so I designed an encrypted command structure to synch up with mine to perform simultaneous attacks against..." She slowly trailed off as she received blank stares from all of her present company.

"Wait." James broke the silence. "Couldn't this be abused if an enemy hacked into it? Like they could make me electrocute myself or something?"

Tali shook her head. "No, not at all! It was locked down so that it could only execute offensive programs against confirmed enemies!"

James grinned at her statement. "So you snuck 'offensive' programs on my omnitool? I'm not sure how that would help me in the middle of a fight..." This caused a slight chuckle from Wrex and instinctively made Shepard roll her eyes.

"I... Wh..." Tali looked back and fourth confused, until suddenly her eyes widened in realization and then immediately narrowed into slits. "You bosh'tet."

She shook her head and continued. "Look, it won't register any other commands, only a very small subset that I was sure couldn't be abused. I made sure there were multiple safeguards..." Tali trailed off, and then lowered her head solemnly. "I... I'm sorry, I thought it could help. I'll remove it as soon as we-"

"No, that's ok." James cut her off, adding a smile to make sure she understood he was genuine. "It probably just saved my life so I'd say it is pretty damned handy."

Tali didn't respond, but lifted her head up and tilted it to the side slightly.

"By the way, what the hell where you thinking?!" Shepard barked out suddenly, causing Tali to stiffen up until she realized she was talking to James.

Instead of immediately responding, he just shrugged. "It wasn't supposed to reload that quick."

Shepard just sighed heavily and made her way past him. "Come on everybody, lets see if there is any equipment here we can use to free the doctor..."


	10. Prothean Expert

"Alright everyone, take cover!" Shepard barked out as she activated the giant mining laser.

A large beam projected from the end of the mining equipment and tore through one of the lower openings of the prothean ruins where Dr. T'Soni was trapped. James lowered his head as dirt and rock showered the area from the explosion, the debris clicking harmlessly off of his armor with a sound that reminded him of falling rain on a tin roof. Through squinted eyes, he looked to his left to where the others where taking cover and met the glowing gaze of Tali peering back at him. James acknowledged her with a slight up-nod and a smile.

As Tali nodded back to James, Shepard broke in through the comms. "Come on, lets move out!"

They made their way down into the hole that the mining laser created, and found a lower entrance into the prothan ruins. At the center of the ruins they discovered a prothean elevator that seemed to extend all the way up the length of the underground structure. They rode up a level to where they found the asari doctor suspended in some type of force field.

"You made it through! Please, press the button over there on that console to disable this field!" The asari desperately pleaded.

Shepard moved over to the console and hit the rather conspicuous holographic button floating in the center of the equipment. The action caused the barrier to dissipate and the asari woman to drop to the floor.

"Ooof!" The asari doctor blurted out as she hit the floor. Shepard walked over to her and extended her hand to help her up. As Shepard lifted blue-skinned woman to her feet, the asari collapsed into her arms momentarily as her legs gave out on her. She lingered in Shepard's arms a few moments before her eyes suddenly widened at the predicament she was in. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry! I must be weak after being in there so long." She pushed away from Shepard's hold, but Shepard left her arms clasping the asari's for support just in case.

"Don't worry about it." Shepard chuckled, and then beamed out a genuine smile that James hadn't seen her wear before.

Already, James was getting impatient about asking this so-called prothean expert about how the beacon could have sent him into the future, and how can he get one to send him back...

Before he could say anything however, the asari spoke up again. "Oh, where are my manners! I am Doctor Liara T'Soni, a prothean researcher studying these ruins. Or did I already introduce myself when we met earlier? Oh my, I'm sorry, I'm just terrible with people. I spend so much time studying ruins by myself that I barely ever get the chance to speak with others. How did you find this place..." The asari trailed off.

Shepard released her grip on Liara and took a couple of steps back. The warrior's face turned more serious as she intently gazed at the blue woman and posed her question. "The reason we're here has to do with your mother, Matriarch Benezia. Have you talked to her recently?" Shepard searched her face for a response.

Liara shook her head in confusion. "My mother? No, not in years. Has something happened?"

"No- well yes actually. I'm sorry there isn't a better way to put this... ...she was one of the people behind an attack on an Alliance colony."

"What!?" The asari blurted in confusion.

Shepard nodded. "The attack killed a lot of people. Civilians." Liara put her hand over her mouth in shock. "There's more..." Shepard continued, explaining in detail about the reaper threat and the visions she received from the prothean beacon.

* * *

Once Shepard was done explaining how James came through the beacon, he saw his chance to finally question the doctor.

"How does it work? How do I get back!?" James nearly shouted his question, the look of desperation evident in his face.

The asari look puzzled. "I... I don't know. A working prothean beacon is extremely rare. As far as I knew the beacons where some type of information relay, I had never heard of them being the source of any type of time travel..." The asari trailed off in thought. "Are you sure this is what happened? There could be another explan-"

James cut her off before she could finish. "I'm not crazy! My life was real god damn it!" He yelled, his voice quickly becoming horse at his tone. "I'm not making this up, you have to know something! Anything-" He stopped his yelling as he felt a gloved hand hesitantly come to rest on his armored shoulder. James recognized the black three-fingered glove as Tali's, but did not turn to acknowledge her.

"I'm sorry..." The meager statement was all the asari could muster before seismic shakes and rumbles echoed through the structure. Pieces of the ruin's ceiling began to fall around them. "The ruins are unstable! The mining laser must have triggered some sort of seismic event!"

Shepard spoke up above the sound of distant collapsing rock. "We need to get the hell out of here! MOVE!" She turned and ran back towards the elevator, the squad running in tow. "Joker, I need an evac NOW!"

James soberly walked toward the elevator, just barely catching up as they where getting on the large platform. "MOVE IT JAMES!" Shepard ordered at him, though the act triggered no change in his demeanor. As soon as his feet where both on the platform, Shepard slammed her fist into the elevator controls and they began their ascent upward through the center of the ruins.

"_There's no way back..."_ James thought in despair.

"_She's dead. She's been dead for over a hundred years..." _A single tear worked it's way down his cheek.

His thumb idly rubbed the place where he remembered his wedding band being. _"Or maybe it never happened, and I really am crazy..."_

Time seemed to slow for James, and his senses dulled as if he'd been hit over the head with a lead pipe. As the elevator reached the top of the shaft, his targeting HUD chimed an alarm and showed a group of new hostiles moving toward their position. Sound was hallow, like the world was muted, and the only thing James registered was the red blip of the nearest enemy. He heard voices in the background, but the words where muffled. All he saw was that nearest red blip on his HUD, a blip that needed to disappear. Suddenly that fact was the only thing he knew was real.

As he rushed forward, he barely registered the yelling behind him. Barely recognized the gunfire erupting around him. Towards him.

Standing kick to the chest. Platform down. Shot to the headlamp to be sure. Next red dot.

_Shields 63%_

He ran full tilt at the next platform nearest to him. Flashes of light sprayed toward him like sparks from a metal grinder. A jump-kick to the knee joint causes the geth to crumple forward, and the following upper-cut sends the platform flying backwards in the opposite direction. Next target.

_Shields 37%_

Solid punch to the headlamp. Red dot disappears. Good enough. Next enemy.

_Shields Critical_

A geth explodes in a shower of debris from a shotgun blast to his right.

_"REMOTE OVERRIDE. INITIATING EMERGENCY SHIELD BOOST."_

_Shields 28%_

James hears yelling in his comms, but can't make out the words.

Suddenly he makes out a scream that brings him back to his senses. He looks to the source and sees Tali sprawled out on the floor with a giant krogan looming over her, the towering lizard's shotgun ready to finish the kill. She was laid out across the floor of the platform, still dazed from the strike from the krogan whom seemingly rushed into her as she was busy inputting commands into her omnitool.

Something strikes him as he sprints towards the looming beast. What hit him wasn't something physical, but something far less tangible. As he continued to run he felt a cold chill resonate down his spine, and a dark, sickening feeling tightening in the core of his being. It was as if every step he took toward the beast tightened a noose around his stomach.

"_Something is horribly wrong with this krogan..."_ Was his last thought as James' closed the last few feet with the beast.

The krogan turned to find the large human diving onto him with the intent to bring him to the ground with a body slam. The krogan's mass, however, had different plans. The krogan reeled backwards a couple of steps, but kept his feet planted and stayed standing as James slammed into him. The krogan began to laugh at the attempt, but was silenced by an armored glove catching him in his jaw.

As James pummeled the krogan's face, he heard a sickening chuckle followed by disconnected words.

"**Is**-"

*straight punch*

"**that**-"

*left hook*

"**all**-"

*right cross to the jaw*

"**you've**-"

*uppercut to the chin*

"**got**-"

*haymaker to the eye*

"**human?**"

As the krogan finished his broken sentence, James couldn't help but pause to survey the damage. The first thing that struck him was that same feeling of sickness he felt before, but much more intense now at this distance. He felt like he had insects clawing at his stomach where the noose used to be, and that somehow the lizard's very presence was poisoning him. The second thing that immediately struck him was the amount of gore that he had inflicted on the beast, yet it was still standing. Inches away from him, the krogan's face was an ugly disfigured mess, even for a giant lizard. But what shocked James the most was the fact that through the mass of blood and meat, the krogan was _smiling_.

As James looked down at his feet to see the still recovering form of Tali, for the first time since he entered this nightmare... ...he was scared.

A massive headbutt knocked him backwards.

_Shields Critical_

The last thing James saw was the krogan's fist striking him squarely in the face.

He feels the impact of the floor as he collapses.

"He's out of the way! Drop the bastard!" Roared Shepard, her voice unmistakable even in the middle of the hail of gunfire.

After a few moments of shooting and cursing, James was aware of a large form collapsing near him. He vaguely was aware of voices, but struggled to remain conscious as he lay on the floor, the feeling of blood and pain washing down his crushed face.

"Is Tali ok?" Barked Shepard.

"She'll live." Came a booming reply.

"Yes, I was just dazed for a moment- Keelah! James!"

"I'm not carrying him."

"Wrex!"

"What? He dug his own grave. That was some of the dumbest fighting I've ever seen."

"Wrex, quit bitching and pick him up! We'll talk about this later. Normandy, prep the med bay we've got a man down!"

"Hmph. Have it your way Shepard."

"Lets move! The ruins are coming down around us!"

James was vaguely aware of being unceremoniously thrown over a large armored shoulder. For a moment, he could have sworn he felt a familiar three-fingered hand carefully touching the side of what was left of his face. As quickly as he felt the gentle stroke of the hand it was gone, replaced with the feeling of a lumbering sprint from the massive hulk he was slung over.

As James began to loose consciousness he managed to mutter a single plea:

"_Sarah... I'm sorry."_


	11. More Than Visions

"So what's his story?"

"Jeff, leave it alone..."

"His face looks like chopped liver."

"You're one to talk."

*gasp* "Doc, that's just low, even for you."

"Quit squirming, I need to set this leg properly. How did you end up falling in the shower anyway?"

"You don't want to know... Anyway, you're changing the subject! I heard the comm chatter, did he have a nervous breakdown or something?"

"Jeff, I don't gossip, least of all to _you_."

James opened his eyes to see where the voices he heard were coming from, but just the simple act caused pain to shoot through his face.

"See Jeff? He heard everything you said. You might want to run, you heard the comm chatter after all didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah... You're done with the leg?"

"If I'm not, then you won't get far now will you?"

"Very funny Doc. Later."

As James heard the sound of the door closing, he tried opening his eyes again and this time only succeed in squinting them open slightly.

"Tali!?" James blurted out worriedly as the last moments of the prior mission suddenly rushed back into memory.

Chakwas moved closer and put her hand on his shoulder. "She's fine James. She was actually here just a little while ago to check in on you. You really should go back to sleep, it's only been a couple of hours since they brought you in."

"How bad is it?" He replied coldly.

The doctor chuckled slightly. "Don't worry, your rugged good looks are in tact, but hidden underneath swelling and bandages. Your shields absorbed most of the damage, and if it weren't for them then you'd likely be dead or at least in critical condition-"

"No." James interrupted. "How bad did I mess up the mission?"

"Ah." Her tone lowered from the joking one she used earlier. "Actually not as bad as it could have been. Tali... Well, she kept you alive."

James' eyes widened slightly. "What?"

Chakwas nodded. "She was managing your shields, boosting them when they were low. According to the mission report from Shepard, Tali was so preoccupied with it that she didn't hear her warning about that krogan. It charged her from the side and knocked her to the ground..."

Her tone became more serious. "James, you owe that girl your life."

James let out a long breath. "Twice in one mission..."

She shook her head. "Shepard actually said in the report that you would have been killed in at least five separate instances had it not been for Tali's intervention..."

James sighed and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully.

The doctor continued. "As far as the rest of the mission, it was pretty much over. Wrex carried you the rest of the way out of the ruins, which collapsed by the way, and then he walked into the medbay and dropped you onto the floor over there." She motioned to an area near the door. "I had to ask him twice to put you onto one of the medical beds." Chakwas chuckled at the thought.

Suddenly the door opened and Wrex lumbered into the medbay, making a beeline directly towards James. "So the pilot was right, the whelp is awake." The towering krogan nearly spat the words at him in disgust, and came to a stop only inches away from James' face.

There was a intense silence in the room as the two stared each other down, the krogan's glare shifting back and fourth between each of Jame's eyes.

After a few moments of this, Wrex erupted a disdainful grunt and backed away a step to lean against an adjacent table. The medical table, though extremely sturdy, creaked loudly against the immense weight of the krogan. Wrex grinned his toothy maw at the sound.

"Do you hear that human?" Wrex paused for a moment, the metal of the table creaking in protest a few more times. He continued when James didn't respond. "That is krogan. That is nearly ten times your weight in muscle and armor." Wrex leaned in with narrowed eyes and pointed a clawed finger at James. "You'd best remember that, whelp." His voice boomed.

James responeded with a slight nod, ignoring the pain as he did so. "The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won..."

Wrex leaned back against the table and tilted his head slightly as he considered the statement. "A human saying?"

"Sun Tzu, I believe." Chakwas chimed in from behind. "James seems to have the entire Art of War memorized."

James shook his head. "Not quite, but there were a few things that stuck with me."

"Hmph." Wrex grunted in dismissal. "You should pay more attention to what you're reading, because you sure as hell don't use any of that on the battlefield. That quarian is a better warrior than you, whelp. It's no surprise that Shepard pulled you off the ground team."

James' eyes widened, and he shot a questioning glare at Chakwas. She shrugged apologetically. "I was going to let the commander tell you herself. She thinks you're too unstable for the field right now..."

Wrex laughed, his booming voice resonating in the medbay. "That's an understatement. Even if he hadn't attacked that krogan like a raging pyjak, we'd still think he was crazy after what happened when he passed out."

James looked back and forth between Wrex and the doctor, trying to read their expressions. "What? What are you talking about? What did I do after I passed out?"

"Well..." Wrex began. "There we were, trying to outrun the collapse of those damned ruins, and you slung over my shoulder bleeding all over my armor." Wrex motioned to his still blood-stained shoulder pauldron. "When suddenly, you started babbling a bunch of prothean nonsense."

"What?" James blurted out, disbelieving the krogan. "You mean nonsense about the protheans?"

Wrex shook his head. "No, you were speaking nonsense, **in prothean.** Or at least that is what the asari claimed. She looked like she was ready to dissect you right then and there." He looked past them, at the door to the asari's quarters at the back of the medbay. "Hmph. I'm surprised she isn't already in here trying to pick at your brain."

James stared blankly at the wall as he processed what Wrex had said. "I'm barely good at english... were the hell did I pick up prothean?" He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "The beacon?"

After a few moments the krogan shrugged. "Either way, not my problem." The krogan leaned in towards James. "I came here to tell you, that's the **last** time I pull your ass out the fire. The next time, you'd better pray that the quarian can lift you, because I sure as hell won't." With that, he turned and started to leave.

Just before he reached the door, James called out behind him. "Hey Wrex?"

The lumbering giant paused and looked over his shoulder. "What whelp?"

James leaned up in the cot, fighting back a grimace at the pain in doing so. "Let's be honest... you're probably only about six times my weight..." Receiving only a death stare as as response, James continued. "How about some sparing later? You could show me the right way to punch a krogan."

Wrex considered it for a second, and then laughed with contempt. "You **don't** punch a krogan. Not if you want to live."

He turned to leave again, and this time didn't bother to turn around as he spoke in his usual booming voice. "You might have a quad on you, or you might be crazy..." Just before the door closed behind Wrex, he muttered a final statement. "Or you might just be too stupid to know your own limits."

After the door shut, a few minutes passed in silence.

"Hey doc?"

The woman turned from her workstation and faced him fully. "James, you can call me Karin."

He nodded in response. "I had a question... Is there anything about certain krogan that make you feel... things?"

The doctor looked puzzled at his question. "James, I really don't think you're Wrex's type."

James blurted out a laugh that felt like it tore his face in half. "Damn it! Ugh, that isn't what I meant." He shook his head and then looked up with a more serious expression. "I mean, like telepathy, or can they emit some type of field that messes with you or something like that?"

Chakwas cupped her chin in one hand as she pondered the question. "No, I'd say most certainly not. Why do you ask?"

Hesitantly, James sat up and turned completely to face her. "That krogan that did this to me..." He motioned to his face. "I could... feel that something was wrong with him. It's like the closer I got to him, the more I could sense... it was like he was being influenced, corrupted, like someone's puppet... and I could sense the strings..."

He shook his head and drew in a deep breath. "Horrible... almost toxic, strings. I don't even know how to describe it, but I feel sick just thinking about it..."

Karin remained silent and looked over his face with a worried expression.

James sighed and lay back down on the cot. "Yeah, I get it. Another notch in the crazy column..."

She shook her head and hesitantly replied. "Just... get some rest James."


	12. Debriefing

"Soup?" James muttered, stifling a yawn as he did so.

Shepard rubbed her temples as Liara shook her head for likely the thousandth time in the past couple of hours.

"Shepard?" Liara turned her attention to her, blue eyes piercing her normally cold demeanor.

As soon as Liara had realized James was awake, she immediately dragged the commander into the med-bay to ask them a myriad of questions about prothean vocabulary and writing. Currently, the scientist was eagerly displaying prothean writing on a datapad and holding it up for her and James to take wild guesses at. Even though James had unconsciously muttered in Prothean all the way back to the ship after the previous mission, thus far neither one of them had gotten a single answer right.

She had meant to debrief with James, but the asari insisted on running the tests as soon as possible. Normally she wouldn't have been able to sit through ten minutes of this, much less a couple of hours, but something about the young asari struck a chord with the commander.

"Shepard..." The asari repeated, making her realize she'd been staring, again, at the currently blushing asari.

"Oh! Shit." The commander blurted out of reflex.

Liara shook her head and changed the picture to the next flash card. "Not quite..."

Both James and Shepard couldn't help but chuckle, much to the asari's confusion. "I swear, I'll never understand human idioms…" She shook her head in exasperation as she held up the datapad again, her arms increasingly sore at the motion.

"To grab something." James offered, disinterested.

Liara shook her head. "No. Alright, how about- wait, no that's right!" She burst with energy at the revelation. "You actually got it right! By the goddess! What about this one?" She held up another symbol, this time completely oblivious of the pain in her arms.

"To eat?" James offered again, though the asari's immediately disappointed look told him that was likely not the correct answer.

"Liara, he was bound to get one right after this many questions… I think we should call it a day." Shepard said, almost apologetically.

"I'm inclined to agree with the commander." Chakwas chimed in as she stood up from her terminal and made her way around to the cot that James was sitting up on. "You have actually been at this for so long that his bandages are ready to be removed." She stated with some amusement as she began unwrapping the omnigel-soaked wrappings.

"There." The doctor smiled as she reviewed her handiwork. "Some light bruising is still leftover, but nothing that shouldn't clear up in the next few hours. You're fit for duty… physically." At the last part of her statement, Karin glanced at the commander as she turned and walked back to her station.

"There must be something... Something to explain why you were able to speak Prothean. Is there anything else?" The young asari searched James' eyes, desperately seeking an answer. "Is there anything else you've experienced since coming out of the beacon?"

"Tell her about the krogan, James." Chakwas chimed in.

Liara looked back and forth between them, confused. "What krogan? The one on Therum? The one that you fought?"

James sighed heavily. "Basically…" He rubbed his eyes as he took another deep breath. "...I could sense that someone, or something was corrupting him… influencing him..."

Shepard looked back and eyed the doctor with a raised eyebrow.

James chuckled. "Look, I'm sure he wasn't much of a cheerful lizard to begin with, but I could damn near see these putrid, insidious, waves of…" He trailed off as he frustratingly punched the cot he was sitting on. "Look, I don't know how to explain it! What does it matter anyway? Karin already told me that krogan don't exactly have that quality normally, so obviously I've got a screw or two loose up here." He tapped the side of his head as he stared intently at the edge of the bed. "But it seemed pretty damned real at the time…"

Liara sat at the edge of the cot he was on. "It is obvious that the beacon did _something _to you…" She started gently, sensing that James was having a hard time talking about this with them. "...so I wouldn't rule anything out at this point." She paused hesitantly. "I think I can help you..."

"No." The word escaped Shepard's lips before she could stop it. She could tell that Liara was about to suggest melding, just as she had done with herself only hours ago. She wasn't completely sure _why _she was so against the idea, after all it did make sense as a way to find out what was going on with James, but still…

Shepard sighed as Liara waited for her to elaborate on her interruption. "Look, it is up to you, but just expect the unexpected in there, he's been through a lot…" Liara nodded in response.

"Uh… what did I miss? What are you suggesting?" James looked back and forth between them.

Liara cleared her throat. "Well basically, I can join my mind with yours and help sort out your thoughts and memories, or at least the ones you give me access to..." She glances at Shepard before continuing. "Just… you have to try to keep focused on the information from the beacon, and try not to let your mind wander into personal memories or thoughts."

James rubbed the back of his neck as he considered what she was suggesting. "Is it… intimate?"

The question visually embarrassed the asari. "W-w-what? N-n-no! I mean…" She stuttered as she met the different looks around the med-bay, though Shepard was conspicuously staring at the wall so hard she could have burnt a hole in it. "I mean… it can be, but only if both participants want it to be… I mean technically…" She shook her head in frustration. "No! No. No it isn't, this is completely for professional reasons, so you don't have to worry. Just focus on the memories from the beacon."

James nodded. "Ok, let's get it over with."

Liara stood up and stepped closer. "Relax… and embrace eternity!" Her eyes went black and almost immediately returned to normal as she jumped backwards into Shepard, who was able to only barely catch her before she fell to the floor.

"Goddess!" Was all she could manage as she held her head with her eyes closed, completely oblivious to being securely held in the commanders arms. "That… You…"

James shakes his head to clear it. "What… what just happened?"

"Your mind!" Liara practically yelled, still holding her head in her hands. "It… that shouldn't be possible…" Shepard appeared to be about to interject when Liara looked back up at James and continued. "Your mind is militarized… Like… Like a computer firewall… It's not normal… Not possible…"

"What are you talking about? What do you mean? Did I not _think _hard enough? I don't understand…" James throws his hands up in the air, completely at a loss for words.

"No…" Liara shook her head. "Normally, if a participant in a meld resists then you get nothing, just… emptiness. But you…" Liara shook her head again. "It was like your mind put up active defenses against my presence."

James stared at her blankly, and then looked back between the doctor and Shepard. "Are you guys getting this?"

Liara sighed in a way that was a cross between annoyance and exhaustion. "Look, think of it like this. A normal meld is like a meeting room, with both parties either showing up, or not, and talking, or not. Do you understand?" James nodded. "Alright, well with you, it was like your mind barred the door from the other side… I couldn't even _start _the meld." At this, everyone glances back and forth at each other. "It just… that doesn't…"

Liara tried to stand up straight, but only ended up falling backwards again into Shepard's arms.

"Liara, you need to rest." Shepard ordered, her breath grazing the asari's ear and causing her heart to seemingly stop for a beat. Suddenly, the asari was instantly aware that she'd been in Shepard's arms for the past few moments, and probably much longer than was appropriate. "Uh… yes, you're right." She nodded but didn't move. "This was much more exhausting than the joining we did earlier. I wasn't expecting…" She trailed off. "I'll be fine. I just need to rest." She finished, and reluctantly pulled away from Shepard's hold.

Shepard, for a split second, almost looked disappointed, but then only nodded and watched as Liara wearily exited the med-bay to her quarters.

After the door closed, the three of them sat in silence for awhile before Chakwas stood up, straightening her uniform. "I'll go check on her to make sure she's alright, there's no telling what just happened or what effect it had on the her..." She glanced at James somewhat worriedly as she passed by, but didn't say anything as she exited to Liara's quarters.

After a moment, Shepard turned to James and eyed him with a critical look. "I don't know what any of this means, but it doesn't change the fact that you're a liability." She delivered coldly, pausing to let him respond. After a beat of silence, she continued. "You're off the ground team until further notice."

James only nodded in reply.

Shepard sighed, and her composure softened slightly. "Look, I know what you're going through-"

James interrupted her, a fire suddenly sparked in his eyes. "You're telling me you know what it's like to have everything taken from you? Everyone you know… and love…"

"Yes." Came the answer, Shepard's tone deadly serious. "I do."

Shepard stood up and gave him a hard look. "We're headed to the Citadel to resupply." She turned and started to walk out of the med-bay, pausing at the door. "Captain Anderson has an offer for you, and I suggest you take it seriously." With that she walked out and the door slid shut, leaving James alone to his thoughts.


	13. Sparring Match

James sighed as the elevator slowly made its descent down towards engineering. He was leaning against the wall of the elevator, slowly tapping his head against against the cold metal as he tried to reign in his rampant thoughts. He'd been walking around the ship somewhat aimlessly to pass the time, still not completely used to the maddeningly boring realities of space flight, and ended up taking the elevator down without a real destination in mind. As soon as the doors had closed however, his mind started drifting back and forth between his recklessness on their last mission, and thoughts of a certain quarian in engineering that he knew he should be thanking.

As the doors opened to the cargo bay, James exited and stopped momentarily as he looked towards one of the doors to engineering. After a brief pause and with a slight twinge of guilt, he continued walking.

"Hmph." Wrex grunted as James walked past, giving him a look of disgust. He ignored the towering krogan, and instead made his way towards Ashley's station. Her back was turned to him, as she was busy breaking down and repairing a set of familiar looking armor.

She acknowledged him with a sideways glance. "Hey."

James came to a stop beside her and surveyed his armor set. "Wow, that _almost _looks new." He reached over and picked up one of his armored gloves, running his fingers across the metallic red stripe of the knuckles.

"_Almost?_" Ashley asked in mock offence. "I've spent the last two hours cleaning this up!" She motioned to the armored glove he was holding. "Those gloves are about the only thing in your armor set that is actually _designed _for melee fighting. Heck, they're actually some of the best quality armored gloves I've ever seen..." She stated in slight wonderment. "But the rest of this junk was salvaged piecemeal from the mercs we shot up at Chora's Den on the Citadel, it just wasn't meant for the abuse that you put it through." She finished, turning her attention back to a deep gouge in the forearm piece of armor.

Recognizing the origin of the damage, he looked closer, leaning in over her shoulder. "Ah, I remember that one. That was from the headplate of a geth that I elbowed."

She shook her head and sighed "Your armor is going to fail you one of these days. You're either going to need to get a new set, or start changing your fighting style with certain enemies."

He considered what she said for a moment, turning and leaning his back against the work table. "Well, unless I can get an even trade for this one, I don't think I'm going to be getting a whole new set of armor anytime soon…"

Ashley finished her repairs and turned to him. "Well, your elbow and knee sections seem to take the worst of the force, so you could just get new arm gauntlets and leg greaves. Not to mention you'll want to hold onto those armored gloves, I doubt you'd find any better for your fighting style. Those are designed to be used with a powered exoskeleton." She motioned to connection ports in the wrist portion of the gloves. "The omni-pistons connect here in order to keep the added force from breaking your wrists."

James examined the glove he was holding, silent in thought. "The req officer said something about that, I'd almost forgot about it."

Ashley typed a few commands into her terminal on the workbench, and suddenly a number of images popped up on the screen. She enlarged one and turned to look at him. "See, here is what an exoskeleton looks like. It basically is a series of strength-enhancing omni-pistons and servos that attach to your armor." She said as she indicated the pieces on screen. "They're actually not very expensive if you want to look into getting one, but you would need to be a lot more careful when fighting since the exposed components can get damaged even more easily than this armor." She motioned towards the elbow piece she had just repaired.

James nodded. "I'll think about it."

For a few moments Ashley stared down at the table in thought, before coming to a decision and raising her head to regard James. "I heard about what happened during the last mission. Well, I mean everybody did really…" The statement caused James to flinch, as he wasn't expecting that particular topic to come up with her. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

James sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the floor. "Look, I…" His knuckles loudly popped as he balled his hand up into a slightly shaky fist. "I just thought Liara was going to know something that could get me back home, and when I found out she didn't…"

"You lost it." Ashley finished for him.

He nodded back in response. "Yeah, pretty much."

"_My good blade carves the casques of men,  
My tough lance thrusteth sure,  
My strength is as the strength of ten,  
Because my heart is pure."_

James raises an eyebrow as she finishes, causing her to roll her eyes. "It's Tennyson, from Sir Galahad."

"Ah, okay…" James nods. "So… I should get a lance?"

Ashley smiles. "No, you should purify your heart."

Her honesty surprises him, and he slowly nods as he seriously considers her statement. "Thanks but..." His face made a painful expression as memories of his wife surfaced. "I'm not ready to give up just yet…"

Ashley shakes her head. "And you don't need to. But you can't take that into battle, you have to keep it together or you're going to get someone killed…" She trailed off and turned back to her work table. A few minutes of silence passed as he considered what she said.

"Anyway…" Ashley pushed the armor set across the table towards him. "Try this on and let me know how it fits. I had to completely re-assemble the leg and arm sections, so you need to tell me if they're not adjusted to the right size."

James shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then examined the pile of armor in front of him. He looked back and forth between the elevator and his armor, seemingly trying to decide on something, and then grunted as he started taking his shirt off. "Hope you're not bashful..."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Speak for yourself. I've been called a _lot _of things, but bashful isn't one of them. I'm in the military remember? We change in and out of armor in public _daily_."

After stripping down to his boxer briefs, James started putting on his armor, one by one attaching each armored piece. After he was done, he stretched his arms and flexed his muscles, surprised at the snug fit. "Wow, this is actually much better than it was before."

"Good." Ashley nodded, watching as he stepped to the side and began shadow boxing the empty space in front of him. As he was finishing a jumping uppercut, she stepped forward and spoke up. "Do you want to spar?"

James grumbled a response. "Ugh, I just put all this on." He paused. "But sure, I've been meaning to find a sparring partner on the ship. I can only handle so many sit-ups before I go crazy." He chuckled.

Ashley smiled and shook her head. "Leave the armor on."

Seeing his confusion, she leaned over and input a command on his omnitool, causing his shields shimmer briefly as they turned on. After doing the same to hers, she stepped forward and threw a punch to his chest. He felt a slight push backwards, but didn't feel the hard contact of armor on armor he was expecting.

"I set your shields to act as kinetic repulsors." Ashley stated. "This is used for training purposes, normally for sparring and firearm drills with low energy repulsor rounds." She attempted to clap her hands together in front of him as a demonstration, but failed as the shields caused them to be pushed apart before they made contact. She repeated the same clapping motion, but this time bringing her hands together slowly, and she was able to make contact and touch her gloves together. "It's inertia based. The less damaging a force is, the less it is repulsed, so grappling still works just fine as you can see. Make sure you don't turn this on in a real combat situation though, as it only works if both people have repulsor fields turned on."

Demonstrating this, Ashley input another command on her omni-tool that caused her shields to shimmer as they returned to normal. Then she reached over and slapped his chest plate loudly, as if hitting a steel wall. "See? A bullet would go right through this repulsor field, unlike normal shields." He nodded in response as she switched her shields back to repulsor mode, then walked over to an open area of the cargo bay.

Ashley stretched for a few moments, and bounced on the balls of her feet as she threw a few punches into the air in front of her.

After a few moments of warming up, she stopped and nodded to him. At this, James walked over and assumed a combat pose in front of her. "Ready?"

Ashley nodded, immediately rushing him and throwing a left and right jab at James' face. He easily parried both of them, but smiled at the intensity she was showing.

"Don't get cocky!" Ashley warned jokingly as she attempted a right hook to his jaw, missing again as he parried her fist to the side. After a number of more hits not landing, Ashley began to get visibly frustrated and dove at him with a long combo of blows, all of them being swatted out of the way by James. "Uggh!" She yelled as she attempted a desperate haymaker towards his head. James grabbed her arm as she came down, and used her momentum to pull her to the side of him as he tripped her to the floor.

As James held out his hand to help her up, Ashley swatted it out of the way and stood by herself. "You're holding back! Come on, you haven't thrown a single punch!"

James shrugged. "I'm still getting used to this repulsor field thing." He held up his armored hand. "I'm used to these killing people, so I'm still not keen on the idea of punching _you _with them."

"Hmm…" Ashley looked around at the small crowd that had formed around them. Garrus was leaned over talking to Wrex about something, probably a bet. Kaiden was sitting on top of the Mako, enjoying the show. She was even sure that she saw Tali leaning by the door to engineering, staying partially out of view.

"Hey turian! Come help me beat James up! He needs to get over his fear of sparing!" Ashley yelled over James' shoulder. Garrus looked over at Wrex and then back at Ashley and grumbled. "Alright, just so long as you start calling me Gar-" He was interrupted by Wrex shoving him into the sparring area towards James. As Garrus stumbled behind him, James side-blocked a right cross from Ashley and then spun around to deliver a massive standing kick to the turian's chest, sending him backwards with a thud as he slid across the metal floor. He came to a stop at Wrex's feet, looking up from the floor at the grinning krogan.

"Back already?" Wrex asked sarcastically as he looked down at him.

The first few words Garrus said where intelligible due to having the wind knocked out of him, but he was finally able to mutter the phrase "Repulsor. Shields." as he lifted his arm up to input a command into his omnitool. The turian's shields shimmered momentarily as he stood up, shooting Wrex an angry look as he entered the sparring area again.

Both Ashley and Garrus attacked simultaneously, trying to overwhelm James, but he parried both of them as he back-circled around to keep both of them in front of him. "You're still being defensive James, just cut loose already!" Ashley yelled at him through ragged breaths. "Kaiden, come down here and help out!"

Kaiden shook his head and made no motion to move from his position on top of the Mako. "No thanks Ash, I'm fighting off a migraine as it is…"

Ashley attacked again, failing to even make contact as James sidestepped her. "Oh come on Alenko, you tell all the women that!?"

"Only you Ash, only you!" Kaiden yelled with a sheepish grin from his perch atop the Mako.

After a few more failed attacks, Ashley turned to Wrex and nodded him over. Wrex grinned in response. "Be careful what you wish for..." Was all he muttered as he turned his shields to repulsor mode and stomped loudly into the sparring area.

James dove to the side as Wrex rushed him, and threw a small jab at Garrus to test out the repulsors. His fist pushed the turian's head back slightly but didn't make contact much to James' relief.

Wrex came in from the side and delivered a massive overhead punch down upon James. With Ashley and Garrus on either side of him, he had little room for maneuvering, his reflexes causing him to bring his arms up to block the incoming blow. Even with the repulsor shielding, James fell backwards from the sheer power of the krogan's strike.

As James recovered and started to stand up, Ashley and Garrus took the opportunity to attack, both landing blows on his face and body, cushioned by the repulsor fields.

James, visibly annoyed at the cheap hits, yelled as he bull rushed them through their assault, knocking both to the ground. As he came to a stop, Wrex lunged at him with another powerful strike, but James was able to do a combat roll to the side and circle around behind the massive krogan. Seeing Wrex's balance falter momentarily from changing direction, James threw all of his weight into ramming him in his back, setting the battlemaster off-balance and falling to the ground.

Wrex laughed from his sitting position on the floor. "Not bad whelp. I was wondering how you fought when you weren't in a delusional blood rage."

"Well?" James asked as his three opponents recovered and stood up around him.

Wrex shook his head. "Well, you're not going to kill any krogan by tripping them to death."

At that, all three rushed him and started attacking. Before Garrus was able to finish his strike, James had roundhouse kicked his head hard enough for the repulsor fields to still send him to the ground. As he spun around and landed, he deflected a left hook from Ashley and uppercutted her from his crouched position, sending her falling backwards. Wrex almost made contact, but James was able to roll backwards and then lunge forwards with a massive haymaker to the side of the krogan's head.

Wrex and James continued their assault on each other, with James landing hard hits and Wrex coming close but missing due to James' better agility. Both Ashley and Garrus backed out of the sparring area to give them more space, genuinely exhausted, but also enthralled by the chaotic fight in front of them.

James dodged another strike from Wrex and circled to the side of him, but paused as he noticed Tali's form leaning against the doorway to engineering. As he made eye contact he saw her body stiffen up suddenly, and then felt a massive blow knock him to the ground, disorienting him momentarily. Before he could recover, he felt himself being lifted off the ground by his neck as he desperately gripped the krogan's arm to keep the weight of his own armor from snapping his spine.

The others in the area stared in shock at Wrex's sudden show of brutality, and James began gasping for breath as he felt himself choking.

"And there human, you're _dead_." Wrex growled, inches away from his face. "You can punch a krogan all day, but in the end it only takes a single misstep for one to _kill _you. Don't forget it."

"**Drop him Wrex. **_**Now**_**.**" Shepard's deadly serious voice suddenly boomed throughout the cargo bay. She was calmly standing only feet away from Wrex, with her pistol drawn and aimed at the krogan's head.

Wrex laughed and dropped James to the floor. "The lesson's over anyway." The krogan turned and started making his way back to his normal area. "Let me know the next time you want to spar. I'll be waiting."

James sat on the floor recovering his breath as he watched the krogan leave, unsure whether his offer was genuine or sarcasm. As he stood back up, Shepard regarded the rest of the room.

"We'll be at the citadel in four hours." She announced coldly, holstering her pistol and walking back to the elevator.

As James started stowing his armor in his locker, Garrus and Ashley approached him from behind. "Great fight." The turian smiled as he slapped him on the shoulder. Ashley nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you were really pummeling Wrex. Though as much as I hate to say it, he was right. A single mistake would kill you if you tried fighting a krogan at close range..."

James finished dressing, and turned to the pair with a sigh. "Yeah, I know. I gave that krogan on Therum everything I had, and yet at the end of it… He was _smiling _at me."

After a moment he nodded at them, and left them in silence as he walked away towards the elevator. He noticed Tali was no longer at the doorway to engineering, and made a mental promise that he was going to go talk to her after he hit the showers.

Closing his eyes, he for once enjoyed the slow silence of the elevator as it allowed him some peace after the sparring match he just endured. Beads of sweat were still running down his face, and his muscles felt an old familiar tightness at having such a good workout. With the peace of the elevator however, came thoughts he desperately tried to push back down. But despite his efforts his mind strayed back to his old life, and the horrifying likelihood that there was in fact no going back.


	14. The Sting

James waited at the Normandy's airlock for Shepard as they began to dock at the Citadel. He'd been there for the past hour, leaning against the door frame in silence. More than once, Joker had nervously asked what he was doing there, and each time James only responded with an increasingly curt "Waiting."

"_Hiding."_ James told himself, knowing that he should be talking to Tali and thanking her for everything she'd done.

"_She'll get the wrong idea, she's kind of confused about human culture as it is."_ He paused and looked at the floor. _"She's been a good friend to me, but…"_ He shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh. _"I __**don't **__need this right now…"_

James leaned his head back against the cold metal of the ship's wall. _"I have to focus on getting back home. The reapers aren't my problem, but fighting them with Shepard seems like the only way to find another beacon..."_

He turned as he heard footsteps approaching, and was surprised to see Tali walking up to greet him.

"_Shit."_

"Hi." She said politely as she came to a stop in front of him. "Shepard told me to meet her here. She said something about needing to talk to Captain Anderson?" Tali bounced on her feet a couple of times, seemingly excited to be coming along.

It took a moment for James to acknowledge her, still somewhat surprised by her presence. "Um, yeah. I think he has some information for me about my past, or maybe about how I got here…"

Tali nodded silently.

"But I'm not really sure, Shepard didn't say what it was about." James rubbed the back of his neck and then looked down at his clothing. He was wearing his casual pants with an Alliance t-shirt and combat boots. He was still wearing his combat gloves, but hadn't put on his armor. "I figured Shepard was just going to take me to go see Anderson. If I'd have known she was going to bring a team then I would have worn my armor, but I figured we were just going to be talking…"

"I… Oh." Tali lowered her head and rubbed her forearm slightly in a nervous fashion. She turned and began to walk away. "I… I will talk to Shep-"

She was interrupted by James reaching out and grabbing her arm. "Wait a second, I didn't mean it like that." Tali turned to regard him. "You're welcome to come along, I just… ...wasn't expecting anyone else."

After a slight pause, he continued. "You've been-" James stopped as he heard footsteps approaching at a brisk pace. He realized he was still holding onto Tali's arm and quickly let go, hoping that the they didn't notice the innocent action, or at least wouldn't bring attention to it.

Tali backed up a step and nodded. "Commander."

Shepard looked James up and down for a moment as she came to a stop. "You ready?"

James nodded in reply.

"Alright." Shepard walked over to the cockpit and pressed a holographic button on a side panel. "This is Commander Shepard speaking. We've arrived at the Citadel. All non-essential personnel have eight hours shore leave, everyone else check with your superiors for your shift schedules."

Shepard shut off the coms and walked into the airlock. "Let's go."

* * *

Shepard took point as they left the elevator, with James and Tali following behind on either side of her. She seemed to James to be upset at something or possibly even someone. _ "Probably still upset with me over the last mission."_ James reflected with a twinge of regret.

As they left the Normandy, an Alliance officer approached them from the elevator. "Commander Shepard?" The man held out his hand, which Shepard shook immediately. "Sir? I don't believe we've met…"

The officer nodded. "My name is Admiral Kahoku." He looked at James and Tali briefly before returning his attention to Shepard. "Congratulations on becoming the first human Spectre, Commander. I'm certain you'll be up to the challenge."

"Thank you sir." Shepard offered a brief nod at the statement. "But I'm sure you didn't come up here just to congratulate me?" Shepard said with a slight smirk.

The admiral smiled. "Straight to the point, hmm?" Shepard crossed her arms and waited. Kahoku shook his head and continued. "Captain Anderson was right about you." The comment elicited a raised eyebrow from the commander. "Alright. I'm getting stonewalled by bureaucratic assholes."

Shepard grunted in slight disgust. "Hmph, well that's nothing new."

Kahoku nodded and continued. "A mineral prospecting team stumbled across the dead bodies of a missing team of marines on the planet Edolus. They were decimated by thresher maws."

Shepard's face immediately turned serious at the mention of the creatures. "What happened?"

"An investigation found that a false distress signal was placed deliberately in a thresher maw nest to lure my men to their deaths!" The admiral seethed.

"Keelah…" Was all Tali could manage, covering her mouthpiece with her hand in disbelief.

James stayed silent, not knowing what a thresher maw was, but knowing enough that now wasn't the time to ask about it.

After a pause, the admiral continued. "I received information from the Shadow Broker that points to an organization called Cerberus as the ones responsible." Admiral Kahoku input a command into his omni-tool. "These are the coordinates for their known bases. I would appreciate it if you could look into them for me."

Shepard accepted the transfer and looked up suspiciously. "Just look?"

The admiral gave her a long look. "It is at your discretion commander, but this meeting..." He paused and looked her straight in the eye. "... it never happened."

Shepard nodded seriously. "Understood."

"Thank you Shepard." The admiral saluted and walked back to the elevator, leaving them in silence.

After a few moments, Shepard took a deep breath and turned to acknowledge Tali and James. "Alright. Let's go see Anderson."

* * *

"Shepard!" Anderson stood up from his desk and walked over to greet them.

He shook her hand warmly before turning his attention to her two companions. "James, good to see you. How have you been holding up?"

James eyed Shepard momentarily and hesitated answering.

Anderson sighed and looked at the floor. "I figured as much." After a moment, he gestured to some chairs. "You might want to sit down. I have some things to tell you that are going to be hard for you to hear…"

James shook his head. "Shoot."

"Okay. Have it your way." Anderson took a deep breath. "There's no record of you existing. No birth records, home addresses, school attendance, jobs, fight records, nothing." He paused, noticing James' startled look, but continues when he doesn't say anything. "There _are _holes though. Gaps where there shouldn't be, totals that don't add up, ghosts of identity in there where there shouldn't be. Someone did a damn good job of erasing your history, but they didn't fill in _all _the empty spaces."

James idly rubbed his his ring finger with his thumb. "My car?" He asked flatly.

Anderson hesitated. "Destroyed."

"What!?" James yelled. "Why!? Who ordered-" He stopped his rage-filled screaming as he felt a three-fingered hand on his shoulder. 

After a brief moment of silence, Anderson responded. "I don't know who ordered it. There's no record of it being requested, only the confirmation that it was completed. As far as why…" He took a deep breath. "It seems like the higher ups in the Alliance want this entire subject buried. They seem to want to keep the focus on Shepard and the PR she is generating for the Alliance, which you would supposedly de-rail if your story was credible. I've gotten more than one official notice that you're to be considered an over-stressed undocumented colonist from Eden Prime." He paused, reluctant to continue. "They 'requested' that you be institutionalized."

"Keelah, they can't be serious!" Tali blurted out behind them, slightly startling James and Shepard.

Anderson shook his head. "It won't happen. Udina dealt with them, it won't be an issue anymore."

"How?" Shepard spoke up.

"As much as I can't stand him sometimes, Udina has his ways. I'd rather not know, honestly." Anderson chuckled. "And there's more. He was able to get James a complete identity as an Eden Prime colonist, a well-paying job offer in the Citadel loading docks, and a credit-chit with a modest balance to get him on his feet."

James looked at him suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

Anderson shook his head. "No catch, other than you can't run to the media with stories of time travel of course. The job and money are yours if you want them, so that you don't have to continue travelling with Shepard if you don't want to. It _is _a pretty stressful lifestyle, to be sure. Might be good for you to get settled in to things for awhile before you go out and try to save the galaxy." He smiled, reaching out to offer James an object. "Here's the credit chit if you want it."

James was silent in thought for a few moments. He glanced at Shepard for a few seconds before he reached out and took the chit. "I'll take the money, but I'll have to pass on the job for now. I need to look for some answers."

Anderson nodded. "I understand. Think it over and let me know if you change your mind." After a minute, Anderson spoke up again. "I wish I had more for you, but that's all I have for now."

James nodded, still somewhat taken aback by what he'd just heard.

Shepard turned fully towards Tali and James. "Take advantage of the shore leave for the next few hours. I'll meet you back at the Normandy afterwards, I have some business to take care of."

They both nodded and then turned to leave as Shepard walked over and sat down in one of Anderson's chairs. After the door closed, she let out a loud sigh.

"That bad huh?" Anderson chuckled.

The commander smiled and rubbed her temples in frustration. "I had to take him off the ground team."

"Hm."

"He went berserk during the last mission and tried to take on a krogan hand-to-hand." She said with her eyes closed, tension evident in her face.

Anderson walked over and sat in the chair across from her. "So why is it getting to you? Sounds like you already took the appropriate action."

"Yeah." She responded thoughtfully. "He just… reminds me of myself." Her breathing slowed and her mouth suddenly felt dry. "After Mindoir."

"Mhm." He replied, putting his hand up to his chin in thought.

Shepard continued. "I… I wasn't fit for a long time after that. The Alliance was basically the only thing that kept me going. It's why I brought James along. I knew if I left him on the Citadel he'd basically lose the rest of his sanity. He's a warrior, like me." She paused. "Combat was the best therapy I could have ever asked for, so I offered it to him too."

Anderson nodded, but stayed silent.

"He's a great fighter, there's no denying that." She laughed at a thought she suddenly had. "I actually walked in on him sparring with my team. He'd been fighting a Gunnery Sargent, a former C-Sec Officer, and a krogan all at the same time."

He laughed at the absurdity of the statement, and then waited for her to continue.

"He's damned good. He can be an asset to the team, there's no doubt. But…" Shepard stared across the room in thought. "...until he deals with what's happened to him, he's just going to be a liability."

* * *

James and Tali walked out of Embassies and up to a railing in the Presidium. For a moment, James let himself enjoy the incredible view. He took in the earthy smells of the trees and grass, and found himself relaxed by the sound of fountains spraying water into the lake that they were standing in front of.

"It's amazing…" He breathed, almost forgetting that he wasn't alone.

Tali nodded and leaned against the railing, equally enjoying the same view he was. "It is..."

He felt calmer upon hearing her voice, and after a moment, turned his head slightly to regard her. _"She really is a good friend." _He thought. _ "Her and the Doc are really the only ones I feel like myself around."_ He chewed on his cheek slightly and looked back out to the lake. _"She… won't think too much into me wanting to hang out with her some more, will she? Afterall, I doubt she has anything to do back on the ship, and God knows I don't…"_

Seemingly coming to a decision, James turned fully towards Tali as he leaned on the metal railing. "Got any plans for the rest of your shore leave?"

Tali looked towards him, and started to slightly wring her hands in a seemingly nervous fashion.

"_Shit. Did that just sound like a pickup line?"_ James panicked. _"Ugh, this is why I never kept many girl friends after I got married. Just so much easier to be an asshole and shoo them away than to have to second guess every little phrase of the ones that stuck around."_

"No… Do you?" She responded hesitantly.

James shrugged slightly. "Not really." He pulled out the credit chit that Anderson had given him. "Though, depending on how much is in here, I think I might want to go shopping for some new armor…"

"Ah…" Tali paused. "_Well_ then, you're going to need some help with that. _Afterall_, you don't even know how much anything should even _cost_…" She said playfully.

James laughed and then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. I don't even know if this is a lot of money…" He pulled it out and examined the holographic readout on the credit-chit. "Fifty thousand credits? Is that good?"

Tali looked at him with wide eyes. "That is great!" She responded cheerfully. "You're going to _actually_ be able to buy some decent armor with that much money." After a few moments of thinking, she had a somber thought. "But… Are you _sure_ you want to spend it all on armor? What if you decide to stay on the Citadel? Won't you need that money?" She stated hesitantly, not wanting to upset him over such a sore topic.

James shook his head. "I'll figure that out when the time comes. For now, new armor would do me a lot more good than some nest egg."

She nodded, wanting to quickly move past the subject. "Okay. Then lets get started!" She motioned for him to follow her, and they walked together at a brisk pace towards the lower wards.

* * *

A sting in his back.

That's all he felt as he dropped to the ground.

In that split second, he pulled the object out of his back and held it in a balled fist as he tried to move his legs.

He was paralyzed.

James looked upwards from where he had crumpled down onto the ground and watched as Tali fell over beside him, her visor hitting the floor only inches from his face. He saw the shock in her eyes. Something is wrong. Something is really, terribly wrong. They had been headed to an armor shop when they'd been ambushed, caught off-guard while walking through a deserted side alley in the wards.

Suddenly, the world starts moving as he realizes he's being dragged by his feet. He sees just enough to know Tali is being dragged as well, following him to whatever destination awaits.

A door opens, and a hushed voice seems to instruct unseen figures.

He comes to a stop and hears as they let his feet drop to the floor when they let go of him. He hears silent cursing about the inconvenience of his muscular weight. He hears Tali's helmet scraping across the floor as they drag her to a spot across from him.

The door closes.

The room is silent.

James starts to try to move, but he can't. He feels his muscles flex, but not quite enough to actually cause the movement that he is willing them to do. He focuses on his neck and is just able to move it so that he can see their assailants.

There's three of them. Seedy looking humans, like street thugs or guns for hire. All have scars on their faces, and the bald one in the middle seems to be aggressive enough towards the other two to be their leader.

"We should hit him with another dose, he's too big for just one…"

"Nah you idiot, it could kill him if you gave him too much. The neurotoxin is doing it's job anyway. Should be good for a few hours."

James felt someone kick him hard in the side. It takes every ounce of willpower not to flinch.

"See?"

"What about the quarian?"

"We don't need it."

"It? That's cold boss, you know she can hear you right?"

"Ha! That's what's great about this stuff. Shuts down everything except your lungs, heart, eyes, and ears."

"So, what do we do with it?"

"Who cares, shoot it."

"Heh, such a waste. Alien freak almost looks human. I could think of a few things I'd want to do to her…"

"Yeah, been awhile since we bagged something with tits. Why not?"

"Fine, but shoot it after you're done with it."

James made eye contact with Tali. He could see the panic behind her visor, the tearful glow of her eyes pleading with him to stop whatever was about to happen.

Then he heard the knife.


	15. Crimson

They were arguing,

They were standing over Tali, debating about how best to cut off her envirosuit. How best to _rape _her.

Their leader, a bald human with a heavily scarred face, was standing to the side of James. He was busy with a datapad, seemingly uninterested in the waking nightmare playing itself out across the room.

James had been using every second he had, every moment, to try to get his body working again. Trying to move without being noticed, and praying that he could do _something _before anything happened to Tali.

In his hand, James still felt the neurotoxin dart that he held in a tightly balled up fist. It was his only weapon and his only chance, though he didn't know if he could even move to use it.

The two henchmen seemed to have come to an agreement on something, one of them moving forward with a knife in his hands.

James let his eyes make contact with Tali's for one last time.

She knew what was about to happen.

He let the rage that he'd been controlling come to the surface, his heart rate accelerating and adrenaline surging. Every ounce of willpower he had was focused in this one moment.

Without warning, James threw his body upwards, the immense strain of the feat apparent in his face, his neck veins bulging as he sprung up towards the leader. But as quickly as he rose, he fell over just inches short of his target. His hand was still clasped around the toxic dart, just out of reach of the bald man's leg.

The leader jumped backwards at this, dropping his datapad to the floor, and both henchmen froze in place, shocked at what had almost happened.

"I told you we should have hit him with another dart!"

"Shut up you moron. Look at him, that was everything he had..." The leader leaned in close, examining James' face.

He couldn't move. His target was so close and he couldn't move. He willed his arm but it didn't belong to him anymore, completely spent from the previous attempt.

"Heh, that's what I figured." The bald man stood up and turned towards his hirelings. "Go ahead and finish up quick guys, our contact is going to be here in an hour."

"_This can't be happening."_ James' mind reeled in anguish. "_This isn't real. This can't be real. Please God, let me just wake up from this nightmare..."_ A single tear streaked down his face.

Suddenly the door opened, and the sound of heels could easily be identified as they immediately came to a stop.

"What the _hell _is going on here?" A woman's voice, with a clear Australian accent.

No answer came from their assailants. Both henchmen just looked up from where they were hovering over Tali, their insidious intentions completely transparent to the newcomer.

"**This** wasn't part of the deal." She seethed, anger apparent in her voice.

Before an answer came, two gunshots rang out in the room. James could faintly hear the sound of two bodies hitting the floor as his ears rang from the sound of the firearm.

After a moment, James could hear her heels clicking against the metal floor again as she moved closer towards the mercenary leader in front of him. "He should be alone, unconscious, and ready to transport." She paused as she came to a stop in front of him. "He's _none _of these."

The leader took a step back, almost walking into James' prone body. "N-now wait… You're early… We have an eezo-lev crate over there to put him in… It.. It's got a stasis function… W-we did what you wanted, we got him alive-"

"It was supposed to be _clean _you _pig_." The woman interrupted, a third and final gunshot ringing out in the room.

James felt the mercenary's lifeless body fall backwards onto him, knocking the air out of his chest.

The woman surveyed the room for a moment, before walking over to the rectangular crate that the bald leader had referred to. She input a command into a panel on the side of the crate, causing it to begin to hover a few inches off of the ground.

James heard the click of her heels as she pulled the crate over to where he was laying, the bald mercenary still sprawled out lifelessly on top of him.

She kneeled down beside James and rolled the corpse of the mercenary off of him, stopping to catch her breath momentarily after moving the heavy body.

For the first time, James was finally able to get a good look at the woman. She had long raven black hair, and wore a skintight catsuit with high-heeled boots. Had she not just killed three people, he wasn't sure he would have actually taken her seriously just based on her attire alone.

Most importantly though, she was just inches away.

James suddenly exploded up from where he was laying, using every bit of his strength to bring his clenched fist down into her neck. The dart's needle struck right into her artery, immediately delivering what was left of the neurotoxin directly into her brain.

The woman collapsed onto the floor beside him.

For a few minutes James just lay there, cautiously relieved that the mercenaries were all dead, but exhausted at even the small action he'd just taken. Forcing his willpower to the surface again, he inched his arm closer to the bald leader. Inch by inch he reached over, until he was finally was able to begin rifling through the bald leader's pockets, his movements sloppy and haphazard.

"_They must have had an anti-toxin or __**something **__to reverse this." _ James thought desperately as he searched, it taking all of his willpower and strength to do so.

Suddenly he pulled out a cylinder from the dead man's pocket, and rotated it to where he could read the writing on the side. "Sirta Foundation Model 63312 - DeTox-M6"

"_Close enough." _ James mused as he struggled to recoil his hand and place the object against his neck. He pressed the button on the top the cylinder, and felt a sudden sting and a rush of cool liquid surge through his veins.

After a few moments he was able to sit up wearily, still shaking with rage and adrenaline at the recent events. He extended a shaky hand towards the bald mercenary, and began searching his pockets for an additional anti-toxin. He found two more in the merc's pocket, and then eyed the raven-haired woman lying paralyzed next to him.

James leaned over her, making sure she could see his face as he talked in a ragged tone, his anger barely veiled. "Thanks for shooting these bastards..." He paused, raising up one of the anti-toxins to where she could see it. "But if I **ever **see you again, I'll _kill _you." As he finished the threat, he pitched the cylinder hard across the room. He saw her eye twitch slightly at the distant sound of the metal object rattling across the floor.

Finding his strength returning, James clutched the remaining anti-toxin injector and pushed himself up from the floor. Wearily, he walked over to where Tali was laying and dropped to his knees beside her.

"I'm going to inject you with this anti-toxin, it should counteract the effects of the dart they shot you with. It seems to be working on me so-" He paused for a moment as he came to a realization. "Shit, is the dart still in you!?"

Tali only blinked in response.

"Ok, hold on…" James gently rolled her to the side, immediately seeing the dart conspicuously sticking out of her lower back. He carefully pulled the object out, noticing the trickle of purple blood that followed the removal of the needle. Quickly, he pulled a small medi-gel canister from Tali's belt and sprayed a small amount onto the tiny puncture of her envirosuit. He slowly rolled her back again and started examining her envirosuit, looking for a place to inject the anti-toxin.

He reached out, and hesitantly poked her inner elbow, trying to find a soft spot between her armor that the injection could penetrate. Seeming thin enough, he reached out with the anti-toxin and paused as he held it against her arm.

"Here goes…" He said reluctantly.

Tali blinked once, seemingly telling him to continue.

James pressed the injection button and heard the same click he did earlier when he'd injected himself. He pulled the cylinder away from her arm, and examined the puncture site. James didn't notice any blood, but proceeded to spray the area with medi-gel just to be safe.

"Th-thanks." Tali barely managed, her voice still weak from the toxin.

After a few moments he pulled her up to a sitting position, leaving his hand on her back to keep her stabilized. "Give it some time, you'll feel exhausted for a few minutes but it gets better." He said reassuringly.

"Shotgun." Tali ordered, her tone more serious than James had ever heard it before.

"Okay." James looked around the room and spotted their weapons on a table in the corner. He stepped over the two bodies lying a few feet from Tali, and came to a stop in front of the table. After he grabbed his pistol and holstered it to his hip, he picked up Tali's weapons and made his way back to where she wearily stood.

"Shotgun." She repeated.

James handed her the shotgun first, which she took and immediately extended it to firing position. She took a few steps away from him before turning around and staring at the ground.

"Stand back."

James looked at her, slightly confused. "From wha-"

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by her unloading her shotgun into the bodies laying on the floor a few feet away from him. "Shit!" Was all he managed out of reflex, as jumped backwards a few steps to avoid the shower of blood and viscera that erupted next to him.

As quickly as the barrage started, it ended with the sound of her shotgun overheating. The beeping noises from her weapon slowly faded as it cooled, leaving James to wonder if she was going to fire again when it did.

She paused however, and slowly walked over to the prone woman laying on the floor.

Standing a few feet away, Tali aimed her weapon directly at the woman's head, leaving it there for a few moments as the woman's eyes widened in thinly veiled fear at the realization that she was facing her own death. Tali's finger lightly squeezed the trigger, adjusting the aim of the shotgun ever so slightly as she fired off a single round.

The prone woman flinched visibly as she was sprayed with crimson, the gaping impact wound of the bald mercenary only inches away from her.

Tali collapsed the shotgun and attached it to her back, and walked back to where James was standing in relative shock at what she'd done. She reached out her hand and waited.

Snapping out of it, James handed her pistol to her and walked back to the prone woman. He examined her for a moment, before turning to Tali who had joined him by his side. "I don't see any pockets on this thing." He said as he motioned to her skintight catsuit.

"She probably doesn't have any ID on her." Tali stated flatly. "Would seem like a bad idea for a kidnapper."

James nodded in response before standing back up and activating his omni-tool. After a moment he heard Captain Anderson's voice. "James! Didn't think I'd hear back from you so soon. What can I do for you?"

"Me and Tali got kidnapped by some mercenaries. We have the one that hired them incapacitated here but it doesn't look like she has any ID on her." James paused. "You think the Alliance did this? These guys only seemed interested in capturing _me_..." He finished, leaving out what else had almost happened.

"What? Are you two alright?" Anderson responded urgently.

James nodded. "We're okay. But do you think the Alliance did this? You said they were trying to put me away, but I didn't think they were _this _serious about it…"

"I don't know what's going on, but I can't believe the Alliance would do something like _this_. Where are you?"

Tali reached over to his omni-tool and input a command into the holographic interface.

"Ah, the lower wards, I've got the coordinates here. I'll send C-Sec right now."

"Thanks Anderson."

"No problem. Take care of yourselves, we'll figure this out."

James lowered his arm as the call ended and turned towards Tali. "Want to stick around 'til they get here?"

"**No.**" Tali responded forcefully. "I just want to leave this place."

James nodded. "It's okay. She's not going anywhere." He motioned over his shoulder at the prone woman on the floor. "Let's go."

As they walked out the door, Tali unholstered her pistol and kept it drawn until they reached the end of the deserted alleyway. When they reached the entrance to a more populated intersection, she hesitantly collapsed the weapon and attached it at her side.

James turned and gave her a worried look. "Let's head back to the ship, you still have holes in your suit. That's bad right?"

Tali's eyes widened at the realization, and immediately reached for one of her pockets. "Keelah, I forgot!" She pulled out a small black square and pressed it hard against her elbow where James had injected the anti-toxin. "These are for small suit punctures. They adhere with direct pressure, and are as strong as the envirosuit after being applied. Stronger actually." She reached back into her pocket and pulled out an additional patch. She stared at it in thought for a few moments, and then slowly handed it to James.

"I… I need you to patch the one in the back… I can't reach it." She said hesitantly.

James took the patch and tilted his head with a smile. "Don't worry about it, I already slapped some medi-gel back there remember? No need to be bashful."

She narrowed her eyes and lightly slapped him on the arm as she turned around. "Bosh'tet."

James pressed his hand against her lower back, causing her to tense up slightly. He pushed the patch hard against the puncture to get it to adhere, and held it there for a few moments, aware that part of his hand was unavoidably pressing against the upper part of her backside.

Tali slowly turned and looked at him over her shoulder. "I _think _that's good enough..." James immediately pulled his hand back, but couldn't figure out whether her tone was an amused or embarrassed one.

James cleared his throat as Tali fully turned towards him. For a few moments they looked at each other, each knowing they were both reflecting on the past ordeal they just went through.

"Are you okay?" James tilted his head down seriously as he looked her in the eyes.

Tali nodded slowly. "Yes."

As much as he wanted to drop it, he reluctantly pressed forward. "Even after you… shot… those guys?" He purposefully left out _where _she shot them, _the number _of times, and the fact that their _legs _were no longer attached to their _midsections _after she was done.

Tali nodded again. "Yes."

James hesitated. "I… I'm sorry."

Tali looked up at him. "What? Why?"

He looked to the side, avoiding eye contact. "I wasn't strong enough to stop it. I gave it everything, but just ended up flat on my face when the time came. I know she hired them, but if that woman hadn't come along…"

Tali raised her index finger up to silence him. "Keelah, don't worry about it. Really. Let's just try to put it behind us for now."

They stood there for a while as the tension from the previous topic faded. After a minute he began to speak up again. "So… back to the ship then? You probably want to rest…" He trailed off as he tried to avoid directly bringing up what they'd just escaped from.

Tali shook her head. "I'm going to have plenty of time on the ship later. For _now_, we're still on shore leave. But you can go back if _you _want to..." She crossed her arms and waited for his answer.

He laughed and shook his head. "Eh, no. I'll stay." He held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Alright. Then we still have some shopping to do." She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the busy corridor. James chuckled to himself as they disappeared into the crowd.


End file.
